9,927 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Bought by Redwood Investment Management LLC

Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 9,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,164,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $117,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $232,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,666,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $135,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $62,624,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.62.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $117.53 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $58.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.21. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $104.66 and a 12-month high of $130.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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 stock was 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 directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 498,625 shares of company stock worth $58,523,683. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac 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.