Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Acquires Shares of 6,439 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $420,078,000. Amundi grew its holdings in Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,555,000 after buying an additional 603,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 161.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968,738 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $120.95 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $104.66 and a 52 week high of $130.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $121.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 541,333 shares of company stock valued at $63,345,006 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.58.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.