Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Aflac by 0.7%, holding about 1.16 million shares valued at approximately $128.7 million.
• Aflac's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.78, slightly beating expectations, though its revenue declined by 19% year-over-year to $4.16 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 and launched a share repurchase program for up to 100 million shares, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,159,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,515 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.21% of Aflac worth $128,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 111,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,547,000 after buying an additional 34,845 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,540,000. Finally, Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,337.6% during the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 43,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,464,000 after buying an additional 40,155 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $106.8910 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $102.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.81. The stock has a market cap of $57.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.83. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

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

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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