Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $121.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $104.66 and a 12 month high of $130.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.04.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total value of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,059,311. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.43, for a total transaction of $1,712,163.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,858,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,175,758,583.70. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 523,833 shares of company stock valued at $61,339,113 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.