Bridges Investment Management Inc. Sells 533 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

by · The Cerbat Gem

Bridges Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 18.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 533 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $140,746,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 133.2% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,329,000 after acquiring an additional 433,134 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,515,000 after purchasing an additional 343,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 96.0% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 407,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,056,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.45.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Aflac

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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