Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 57,272 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its shareholding in Aflac Incorporated by 6.4% in Q1, now owning approximately 833,629 shares valued at $92.71 million.
• Aflac reported Q2 earnings per share of $1.78, beating expectations, but experienced a 19% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company has authorized a $100 million share buyback program, signaling management's belief that the shares are undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 833,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 57,272 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Aflac worth $92,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norinchukin Bank The increased its position in shares of Aflac by 15.2% during the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 27,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,004,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 120.3% during the first quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 42,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,720,000 after buying an additional 23,178 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Aflac by 3.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 851,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,668,000 after buying an additional 26,458 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 4.1% during the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 107,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,908,000 after buying an additional 2,781 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL traded up $0.86 on Friday, reaching $106.96. The company had a trading volume of 2,399,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,717,952. 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 quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.99. The company has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, 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, August 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

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.