Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 9,470 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 23.3% in the first quarter, now holding 31,200 shares worth approximately $3.47 million.
• Aflac recently saw mixed analyst ratings, with price target adjustments ranging from $96.00 to $107.00 and an overall average rating of "Hold."
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share with an annualized payout of $2.32 and a dividend yield of 2.2%.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 23.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,470 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Aflac were worth $3,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Aflac by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.6% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,607,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $178,725,000 after purchasing an additional 99,419 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial dropped 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. UBS Group dropped 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 set a $113.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4%

Aflac stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $105.77. 1,771,742 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,169,900. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $56.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $102.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.81.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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.