Aflac Incorporated $AFL Position Boosted by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 3.2%, owning approximately 0.16% of the company, worth about $94.67 million.
• Aflac has initiated a share repurchase program authorizing the buyback of up to 100 million shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.78 for the recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, though revenue of $4.16 billion fell short of estimates.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 851,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,458 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.16% of Aflac worth $94,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 12,313.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $167,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491,951 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,746,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $543,154,000 after purchasing an additional 556,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,081,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $107.3840 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company's 50 day moving average price is $103.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.87. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Company Profile

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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