National Pension Service Buys 99,419 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service has increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 6.6%, now owning approximately 1.6 million shares valued at about $178.7 million.
• Aflac announced a stock repurchase program allowing it to buy back 100 million shares, indicating the leadership believes the stock is undervalued.
• The firm's second-quarter earnings showed an EPS of $1.78, exceeding estimates, but revenue fell 19% year-over-year to $4.16 billion.

National Pension Service raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,607,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 99,419 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.30% of Aflac worth $178,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $105.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,645,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,534. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $56.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.83. 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 (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. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.54.

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.