Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys Shares of 43,356 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC has purchased 43,356 shares of Aflac Incorporated, valued at approximately $4.57 million, marking a significant addition to their investment portfolio.
• Analysts have updated their ratings on Aflac, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. raising their price objective from $96.00 to $100.00 and granting a "neutral" rating.
• Aflac has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.2%, while also initiating a share repurchase program for up to 100 million shares.

Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 43,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,572,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 90.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Down 0.5%

AFL opened at $107.45 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.85. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $104.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.15.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for 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%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

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. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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