Sciencast Management LP Acquires Shares of 31,879 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP acquired 31,879 shares of Aflac Incorporated, valued at approximately $3,545,000, in the 1st quarter according to a recent SEC filing.
• Aflac announced a share buyback program authorizing the repurchase of 100 million outstanding shares, indicating the board's belief that shares are currently undervalued.
• The company recently reported $1.78 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue fell 19% year-over-year.

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 31,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,545,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 90.8% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $106.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $57.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $103.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.09. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

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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