State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• The State of Alaska Department of Revenue has reduced its Aflac holdings by 4.0%, now owning 80,557 shares valued at $8,494,000.
• Aflac's quarterly results showed an EPS of $1.78, which exceeded analyst expectations, but revenue fell by 19.0% compared to last year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Aflac, with the current consensus being a "Hold", and a target price averaging $109.15.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,365 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Aflac were worth $8,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 90.8% in 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. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group cut 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

Aflac Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $111.36 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50-day moving average price is $105.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.25.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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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