Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 6,692 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 21.4%, selling 6,692 shares and ending the quarter with 24,646 shares valued at $2,740,000.
• Aflac's recent earnings report showed a loss in revenue of 19.0% year-over-year, with an EPS of $1.78, surpassing estimates of $1.71.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.2%, and has a stock buyback program authorized for 100 million shares.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. decreased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 21.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,692 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the first 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 raised its stake in Aflac by 24.4% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.5% during 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. Optas LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 3.5% during the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apexium Financial LP raised its stake in Aflac by 3.4% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $106.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during 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 revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Aflac declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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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