Naples Global Advisors LLC Acquires 1,440 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 90.8% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $110.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $59.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.38.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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.