SteelPeak Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,829 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NorthRock Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Aflac by 24.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 5.0% during the second 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. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued 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 0.7%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $113.08 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a PEG 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 $115.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.40.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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 $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.