Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.90 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,877 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 24.4% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 3.5% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Apexium Financial LP lifted its holdings in Aflac by 3.4% in the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $113.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $106.56 and a 200-day moving average of $105.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.44. The company has a market capitalization of $60.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.