GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Sells 584 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 584 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $140,746,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $60,954,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 133.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,329,000 after purchasing an additional 433,134 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,187,000 after purchasing an additional 385,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after purchasing an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.20.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $111.23 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $59.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $108.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.63. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.43.

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. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.