Next Level Wealth Planning LLC Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Next Level Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 192 shares during the quarter. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $112.24 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.37. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Aflac Profile

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.