Private Asset Management Inc. Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Private Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Private Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 338.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,604,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,656,000 after acquiring an additional 4,325,212 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 71.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,512,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $420,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $175,416,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 62.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,936,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,812,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $634,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640,984 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $79.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, 58.com reissued a “reiterates” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, June 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.82.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.75 on Thursday, hitting $77.14. 185,730 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,413,533. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $56.03 and a 52-week high of $78.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.65 and its 200 day moving average is $68.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $5.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 24.48%. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 22nd. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.46%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, CFO James Todd Daniels sold 3,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.51, for a total value of $249,981.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,491,015.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO James Todd Daniels sold 3,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.51, for a total transaction of $249,981.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,491,015.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 7,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.09, for a total transaction of $582,012.41. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,994,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,170 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,000. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. It operates in two segments, Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. 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.