MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Raises Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 2.8%, owning 91,322 shares valued at over $10 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Aflac recently declared a $0.58 quarterly dividend with a payout ratio of 52.61%, enhancing its attractiveness to investors.
• The company's board approved a buyback plan allowing the repurchase of up to 100 million shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. UBS Group cut 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,799,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,434,687. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.09 and a 200-day moving average of $105.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $58.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The firm's revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.