Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

by · The Markets Daily

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 26.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,472 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 90.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Aflac

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $106.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.17 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

(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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