Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Increases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 43.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 4.4% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 23,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,516,000. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,180,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Aflac by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 72,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,072,000 after acquiring an additional 7,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Aflac by 18.3% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.53.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $112.02 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.