Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 17,091 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Blue Trust Inc. has increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 8.5%, acquiring 17,091 shares in the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to $22.9 million.
• Aflac recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.78 EPS, beating analysts' expectations but showing a 19% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• The company announced a stock buyback plan for 100 million outstanding shares, indicating a belief from management that the stock is undervalued.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,091 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 5.0% in the second quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its position in Aflac by 3.4% during the second quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.45.

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 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 approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $111.09 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $107.30 and its 200 day moving average is $105.51. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders 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 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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