Focus Partners Wealth Buys 5,306 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,306 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,802 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,877. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE AFL opened at $103.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $56.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.54. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $85.77 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The company’s revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

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.