Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments increased its position in Aflac Incorporated by 7.4% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 5,572 shares, bringing their total holdings to 81,098 shares valued at approximately $8.55 million.
• Aflac recently announced a quarterly dividend payment of $0.58 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%, with a payout ratio of 52.61%.
• Equities analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Aflac's stock, with an average price target of $109.15, though recent price objectives vary among analysts.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,572 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $44,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $473,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 5,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5%

AFL stock opened at $112.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. 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 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $106.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.37.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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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