Aflac Incorporated $AFL Stake Cut by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,253 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 90.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.14 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $104.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.17. The firm has a market cap of $58.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.Aflac’s revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Profile

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.