Friedenthal Financial Acquires Shares of 6,942 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in Aflac by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,945,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Aflac by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 3,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $114.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,996,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,239,971. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $109.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Aflac's payout ratio is 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.53.

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.