AlphaQuest LLC Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 91.8%, owning 20,831 shares valued at $2.3 million after purchasing 9,969 additional shares in the 1st quarter.
• Aflac reported $1.78 earnings per share, outperforming the consensus estimate by $0.07, but experienced a 19% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a share buyback plan for up to 100 million shares, indicating that its leadership believes the stock is undervalued.

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 91.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,969 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $2,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Aflac by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 824,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,333,000 after acquiring an additional 23,455 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1,887.4% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 125,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,984,000 after acquiring an additional 119,210 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 8,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.1620 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $108.3520. The company had a trading volume of 2,230,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,594,252. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $57.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Aflac declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

Aflac 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.