Seven Eight Capital LP Buys New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $904,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.50.

Insider Activity at Aflac

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 value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $61.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $74.89 and a 52 week high of $111.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.88.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Aflac 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.