one8zero8 LLC Acquires Shares of 5,064 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

one8zero8 LLC bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho set a $116.00 price objective on Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $116.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $121.59 and its 200 day moving average is $116.09. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $104.66 and a 1-year high of $130.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $58.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 507,333 shares of company stock worth $59,450,256. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

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.