Palladium Partners LLC reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the period. Palladium Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 1,750.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,849,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,727,193,000 after buying an additional 22,561,116 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 3.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,980,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,316,059,000 after buying an additional 1,048,415 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Aflac by 5,077.8% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 600,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,482,000 after buying an additional 588,819 shares in the last quarter. NN Investment Partners Holdings N.V. boosted its position in Aflac by 365.4% in the second quarter. NN Investment Partners Holdings N.V. now owns 653,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,777,000 after buying an additional 513,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Aflac by 2.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,858,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,583,023,000 after buying an additional 505,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.59% of the company’s stock.
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE AFL) opened at 81.25 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $66.50 and a 1-year high of $81.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.99.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.48 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 11.98%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post $6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Aflac announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 8th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.94%.
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A number of research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial, Inc. upgraded Aflac from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank AG lifted their target price on Aflac from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted their target price on Aflac from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.50.
In related news, Director Karole Lloyd bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $77.01 per share, for a total transaction of $77,010.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,553.53. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul S. Amos II sold 222,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.40, for a total value of $17,251,608.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 329,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,506,396. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 240,203 shares of company stock valued at $18,612,224 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Aflac Company Profile
Aflac Incorporated is a business holding company. The Company is involved in supplemental health and life insurance, which is marketed and administered through its subsidiary, American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (Aflac). The Company’s insurance business consists of two segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S.
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