EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 360.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,961 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.17.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $127.35 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.