MBB Public Markets I LLC Purchases New Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC has acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated, purchasing 2,915 shares valued at approximately $324,000 during the first quarter.
• Aflac's recent earnings report showed an earnings per share of $1.78, beating estimates, although revenue fell 19% year-over-year to $4.16 billion.
• The company announced a share buyback program authorizing the repurchase of 100 million shares, indicating that management believes the stock is undervalued.

MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,915 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 12,313.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $167,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491,951 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth $140,746,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Aflac by 11.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 556,394 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $48,081,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 133.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $84,329,000 after buying an additional 433,134 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE AFL traded up $0.45 on Friday, hitting $109.14. 1,799,997 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,210,203. The company has a market cap of $58.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during 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%.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 business earned $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, 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 available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.