Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $36,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $110.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $111.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $108.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.49. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Company 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.