Aflac Incorporated $AFL Position Raised by Joule Financial LLC

Joule Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 26.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $112.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $60.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.37. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Aflac’s revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate 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 repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

About Aflac

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.