Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $274,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in Aflac by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 19,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $247,000. Liberty Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 81,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,306,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC raised its position in Aflac by 830.5% during the second quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 46,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,115,000 after acquiring an additional 41,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.9% in the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 14,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE AFL opened at $110.34 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $73.62 and a twelve month high of $110.68. The stock has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.