Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Acquires 988 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,161,000 after purchasing an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in Aflac by 19.4% in 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 buying an additional 385,546 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Aflac by 0.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,441,000 after acquiring an additional 13,575 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Aflac by 4.3% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,056,000 after acquiring an additional 70,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 3,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total transaction of $397,325.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 230,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,552,188.80. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total transaction of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,110. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 6,174 shares of company stock worth $705,050 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $111.76 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.83. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $109.94 and its 200-day moving average is $106.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

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

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.29%.

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.