Financial Harvest LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Financial Harvest LLC has made a new investment in Aflac Incorporated, acquiring 9,248 shares valued at approximately $975,000, which represents about 0.7% of their total investment portfolio.
• Aflac announced a stock repurchase plan allowing for the repurchase of 100 million outstanding shares, indicating the board's belief that shares may be undervalued.
• In its recent earnings report, Aflac beat analysts' expectations with earnings per share of $1.78, while revenue decreased by 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Financial Harvest LLC acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $975,000. Aflac comprises about 0.7% of Financial Harvest LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in 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 last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.01 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $104.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.15. The company has a market cap of $57.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.85. 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

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.

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