Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Bought by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $74.89 and a 1 year high of $111.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.57.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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. 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 analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.50.

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.