EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $508,000 Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 32.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,394 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.43.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $113.53 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $74.89 and a 1-year high of $114.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $64.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued 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 yield of 1.76%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.