Tidal Investments LLC Acquires 23,677 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 137.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,677 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 7,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $115.28 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.34. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $105.43 and a 52 week high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 30,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.39, for a total transaction of $3,521,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,955,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,981,717,209.65. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 347,015 shares of company stock worth $40,816,004 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, illness, hospitalization, disability and critical illness.

Through its U.S. operations, Aflac markets policies to individuals, businesses and employees through workplace benefit programs, independent agents and brokers. The company is also a major provider of supplemental insurance in Japan, where it offers products focused primarily on cancer, medical and income-support coverage.

Founded in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, as American Family Life Assurance Company, the business adopted the name Aflac in 1990.