Dorsey Wright & Associates Acquires 570 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Aflac were worth $4,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 3,452 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total transaction of $397,325.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 230,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,552,188.80. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 6,174 shares of company stock worth $705,050 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 target price (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.00.

Aflac Trading Down 0.5%

Aflac stock opened at $111.76 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.83. The company has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.29%.

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.