Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $20.56 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Aflac by 3.2% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 184,933 shares valued at $20.56 million.
• Aflac reported a net income decrease of 19.0% year-over-year, with earnings of $1.78 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates but below revenue expectations.
• The company is initiating a stock repurchase program for up to 100 million shares, signaling that its board believes the stock may be undervalued.

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,088 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $20,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Aflac Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,547,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,506,788. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.09. The stock has a market cap of $57.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

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.