Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at $1,780,000. Principle Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,109,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $427,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $145,675,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,473,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $120.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $104.66 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid 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 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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 reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.58.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total transaction of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,059,311. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.09, for a total value of $1,574,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,872,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,160,174,032.10. This 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 have sold 541,333 shares of company stock valued at $63,345,006 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.