Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 2,674,075 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. has reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated by 67.1%, now owning approximately 1.31 million shares valued at $145.9 million.
• Aflac reported a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08% in its latest earnings report, with a quarterly revenue of $4.16 billion, down 19% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share and authorized a stock buyback of 100 million shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 67.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,312,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,674,075 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.24% of Aflac worth $145,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $865,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.64. The stock had a trading volume of 358,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,203,666. The firm has a market cap of $57.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.85 and a 200 day moving average of $105.13. 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 (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Evercore ISI reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

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.