EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 1,819 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 344.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after purchasing an additional 15,855 shares in the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,481,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares during the last quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $12,546,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Aflac by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 633,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,262,000 after purchasing an additional 44,875 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $109.69 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.41. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $74.89 and a 52 week high of $111.14. The company has a market cap of $61.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.50.

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.