Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $46.20 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 32.7% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 415,538 shares valued at around $46 million.
• Aflac recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, which represents an annualized dividend of $2.32 and a dividend yield of 2.2%.
• The company has authorized a share repurchase plan of up to 100 million shares, indicating that it believes its stock is undervalued.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 32.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 415,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 102,327 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.08% of Aflac worth $46,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors 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 $28,000. 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 90.8% during 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 during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.96. 2,399,018 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,736,417. The firm has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.83. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $103.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.98. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac 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.