Captrust Financial Advisors Has $129.14 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,171,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,462 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors owned about 0.22% of Aflac worth $129,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $420,078,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1,184.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,676 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,111,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,588,000 after acquiring an additional 885,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,078,000 after acquiring an additional 699,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $117.38 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.09. The company has a market capitalization of $59.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $6,240,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,014,735 shares in the company, valued at $6,006,474,898.90. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,009,956 shares of company stock valued at $115,897,719. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

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.