U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,913 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.31.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.21. 2,938,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,533,085. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $64.10 and a one year high of $86.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.