Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 7,660 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $856,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Aflac by 188.5% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore lifted their price target on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.91.

Aflac Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:AFL opened at $115.85 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $110.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $60.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $601,538.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,447.04. The trade was a 12.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,044 shares of company stock worth $3,241,981. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

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.