Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 3,021 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,021 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $9,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,626,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $108.36 and a 200-day moving average of $105.46. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.44. The stock has a market cap of $57.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

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

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

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.