ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 162,331 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC cut its Aflac stake by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 162,331 shares and ending with 1,569,151 shares valued at about $173 million.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: recent rating changes were mixed, and the consensus view from MarketBeat is still a “Hold” with an average price target of $111.36.
• Aflac reported mixed quarterly results, posting earnings of $1.75 per share versus expectations of $1.80, while revenue came in slightly above estimates at $4.24 billion and rose 27.9% year over year.

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,569,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 162,331 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.30% of Aflac worth $173,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 787,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $86,795,000 after buying an additional 24,640 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 716.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 17,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,926,000 after buying an additional 15,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $1,843,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.36.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $118.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $111.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.37. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 674,615 shares of company stock valued at $75,311,551 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac's product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.

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