Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated by 20.1%, selling 13,566 shares during the 1st quarter, leaving them with 53,853 shares valued at approximately $5.99 million.
• Aflac recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 52.61%.
• The company initiated a share buyback program allowing for the purchase of up to 100 million shares, which may indicate management believes the stock is undervalued.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,566 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $5,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Aflac by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 30,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,373,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,446,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The grew its holdings in Aflac by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 27,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,004,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 120.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 42,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,720,000 after buying an additional 23,178 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Aflac by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 851,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,668,000 after buying an additional 26,458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lowered 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. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. 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, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Three 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8%

Aflac stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.96. 2,399,018 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,736,417. The company's fifty day moving average price is $103.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.97. The company has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.83. 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 fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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.