AIA Group Ltd Sells 8,931 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

AIA Group Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,931 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Aflac by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,385,000 after acquiring an additional 69,025 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $420,078,000. Amundi raised its stake in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,664,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,846,000 after purchasing an additional 32,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Aflac by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,125,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,340,000 after purchasing an additional 571,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.50.

Aflac Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $124.79 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $117.82 and its 200 day moving average is $113.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $125.93. 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 (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). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac 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 sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.