AGF Management Ltd. Sells 21,790 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. has reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 2.9%, now owning approximately 718,786 shares valued at $79.9 million.
• Aflac's quarterly earnings report showed $1.78 earnings per share, exceeding expectations but with a 19% decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• Investors can expect a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.2%, set for payment on September 2nd.

AGF Management Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 718,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,790 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd. owned 0.13% of Aflac worth $79,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 24.4% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.5% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Aflac by 0.4% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 30,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,433,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE AFL traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $103.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,231,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,432,755. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.88. 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 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $55.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,300,075 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.23.

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.