Burford Brothers Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Burford Brothers Inc. trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 734 shares during the quarter. Burford Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Aflac by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,800,000 after purchasing an additional 5,912 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in Aflac by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,653,000 after purchasing an additional 22,637 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Aflac by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,810,000 after purchasing an additional 86,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at $2,535,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.53.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $109.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $62.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.59.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Aflac Company Profile

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.