Amundi Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Amundi cut its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 13.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,821,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 446,684 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.56% of Aflac worth $330,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Aflac by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,526,000 after purchasing an additional 56,975 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,743,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,630,000. Atlas Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,802,000. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in Aflac by 716.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 17,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 15,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $117.09 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.43 and a 200-day moving average of $116.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $104.66 and a 52-week high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Aflac's revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total value of $1,582,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,687,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,090,391.10. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 455,215 shares of company stock valued at $53,513,586 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac's product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.

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