Denali Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,913 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,626,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.8% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $57.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $108.59 and a 200 day moving average of $105.45. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.43.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac 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.