Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $26.39 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, now owning shares valued at approximately $26.39 million.
• Aflac’s Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan to buy back up to 100 million outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 250,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,838 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $26,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st 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. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $2,626,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $110.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $59.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.86. 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 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $105.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.36.

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

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Aflac Company 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.