Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Aflac by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 578,333 shares of company stock valued at $67,710,836. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $121.38 on Monday. 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 cap of $60.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $104.66 and a 52 week high of $130.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.86.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.