Cetera Investment Advisers Trims Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 348,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,870 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Aflac were worth $38,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Aflac by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,526,000 after purchasing an additional 56,975 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 348.3% during the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,145,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,743,000. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,865,000. Finally, Atlas Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $1,802,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.17.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $125.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $63.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $125.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $118.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.19.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.