Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated by 2.8%, selling 3,764 shares during the 1st quarter, leaving it with 129,586 shares valued at $14.4 million.
• GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its stake in Aflac by 12,313.9%, acquiring an additional 1.49 million shares and bringing its total holdings to 1.5 million shares worth $167.2 million.
• Aflac announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, with a 2.2% yield, alongside a share buyback program authorized for 100 million shares, indicating confidence in its stock’s valuation.

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,586 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,764 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $14,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 90.8% during the first 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 last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8%

AFL stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.96. 2,399,018 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,717,952. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $103.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.99. The company has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized 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 purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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 paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 is 52.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

About Aflac

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.