First Midwest Bank Trust Division raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 24.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the period. First Midwest Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Aflac were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of 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. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 4.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,390,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,962,000 after buying an additional 173,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 8.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,076,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,824,000 after buying an additional 314,506 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.59% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Aflac Incorporated (AFL) opened at 79.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.07 and a 200 day moving average of $74.87. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $66.50 and a 1-year high of $81.89.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 13.09%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post $6.69 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 21st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.94%.
Aflac announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 8th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
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A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, May 1st. FBR & Co reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Barclays PLC lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Finally, BidaskClub downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.50.
In other Aflac news, President Kriss Cloninger III sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.72, for a total transaction of $194,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 241,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,780,727.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul S. Amos II sold 222,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.40, for a total transaction 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 240,203 shares of company stock valued at $18,612,224. 3.00% of the stock is 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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