Invesco Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 2.5%, selling 92,281 shares, and now holds approximately 0.65% of the company valued at $397 million.
• Aflac announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for August 20, signaling a commitment to returning value to shareholders amidst mixed earnings results.
• Analysts have mixed views on Aflac, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $108.23, influenced by recent changes in price objectives from multiple financial institutions.

Invesco Ltd. decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,572,915 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 92,281 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.65% of Aflac worth $397,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 90.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $105.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,138,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,315. The company has a market capitalization of $56.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.87. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. 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 (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors 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.