Aflac Incorporated $AFL Stock Position Trimmed by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC has reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 12.7%, now holding approximately $81 million worth of shares, which constitutes 1.1% of its total holdings.
• Aflac's Board of Directors authorized a significant share repurchase plan to buy back 100 million shares, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.
• Equities analysts have issued mixed ratings for Aflac, with three analysts

Vest Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 770,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 112,183 shares during the period. Aflac makes up approximately 1.1% of Vest Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Aflac worth $81,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $2,626,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,478,000 after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. 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, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.45.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $110.78 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.44. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $107.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.45. The company has a market capitalization of $59.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.58 per share. 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 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

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.

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