Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Has $1.24 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $473,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its holdings in Aflac by 3.4% during the first quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 5,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac 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 sale, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:AFL opened at $112.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $60.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

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.