Centaurus Financial Inc. Invests $2.16 Million in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $359,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $683,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,109,000. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $242,000. Finally, Triton Financial Group Inc purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,042,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $116.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $58.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $104.66 and a 1 year high of $130.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.21.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.49, for a total transaction of $1,479,423.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 50,765,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,913,683,579.10. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 32,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,059,311. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. 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 502,125 shares of company stock valued at $58,965,806. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. 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 report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Aflac 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.