Aflac Incorporated (AFL) Position Raised by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 68,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB raised its position in shares of Aflac by 2.6% in the first quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB now owns 86,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,280,000 after buying an additional 2,237 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $446,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 18,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Aflac by 27.3% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 29,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,156,000 after buying an additional 6,383 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.59% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE AFL) opened at 80.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $31.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $66.50 and a 52 week high of $81.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post $6.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 21st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 25.94%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 8th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: This piece was originally reported by [[site]] and is the sole property of of [[site]]. If you are accessing this piece on another website, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of US and international copyright and trademark legislation. The legal version of this piece can be accessed at [[permalink]].

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. ValuEngine upgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Barclays PLC lifted their target price on Aflac from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. FBR & Co reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America Corporation upgraded Aflac from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

In other Aflac news, President Kriss Cloninger III sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.06, for a total transaction of $283,710.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 253,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,524,067.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul S. Amos II sold 222,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.40, for a total transaction of $17,251,608.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 329,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,506,396. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 240,203 shares of company stock worth $18,612,224. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is a business holding company. The Company is involved in supplemental health and life insurance, which is marketed and administered through its subsidiary, American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (Aflac). The Company’s insurance business consists of two segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S.