Fifth Third Bancorp Reduces Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in Aflac by 3.7% in the second quarter, selling 2,703 shares, leaving them with 71,276 shares valued at approximately $7.5 million.
• Aflac announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, representing a 2.1% annualized yield, and initiated a buyback plan for up to 100 million shares.
• Recent analyst reports show mixed ratings for Aflac, with three Buy ratings, eight Hold ratings, and two Sell ratings, while the average price target is currently set at $109.15.

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,703 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Aflac were worth $7,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $590,161,000 after purchasing an additional 56,776 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 10.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.8% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $192,441,000 after buying an additional 13,575 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Aflac by 6.6% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,607,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $178,725,000 after acquiring an additional 99,419 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Aflac by 12,313.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $167,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Three 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AFL opened at $109.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $58.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.22.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.