Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Sells 417 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 417 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 11.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,504,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth $286,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 30.8% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 120,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,449,000 after buying an additional 28,503 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $108.55 and a 200-day moving average of $105.43. The company has a market cap of $57.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 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. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.43.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during 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 fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. UBS Group lowered 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. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.