11,156 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Purchased by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,308,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Aflac by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total value of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,710 shares in the company, valued at $4,059,311. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.43, for a total transaction of $1,712,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,858,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,175,758,583.70. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 523,833 shares of company stock valued at $61,339,113 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $121.74 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $104.66 and a one year high of $130.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $121.60 and its 200 day moving average is $116.04. The stock has a market cap of $61.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Mizuho set a $116.00 price target on Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.58.

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.