Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $634,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd has reduced its stake in Aflac Inc. by 48.0%, now holding 5,770 shares valued at $634,000.
• Aflac recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $1.66, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.67, and revenue down 37.5% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.30%.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 48.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,770 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,326 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Aflac were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $865,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.15.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded down $1.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.46. 1,017,112 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,121,669. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $52.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $95.97 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $102.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business's revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.