Brookwood Investment Group LLC Acquires Shares of 3,556 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 1,526.7% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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 target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $106.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.43. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.