Amundi Sells 321,510 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 11.7%, now holding approximately 0.45% of the company, worth $271.7 million after selling 321,510 shares.
• Aflac's Board of Directors announced a stock repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of 100 million shares, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.
• Recently, Aflac declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2%, paid to stockholders of record as of August 20th.

Amundi lessened its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 11.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,432,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 321,510 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.45% of Aflac worth $271,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac 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 transaction, the director 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Down 0.5%

AFL traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $106.41. 2,903,078 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,216,803. The company has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $103.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

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.