Whipplewood Advisors LLC Purchases 229 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1,526.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $26,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Aflac by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Apexium Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $107.46 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.43. The firm has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally 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 dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

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.