Swiss National Bank Sells 14,400 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated by 1.0% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.27% of the company, valued at around $165.5 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Northern Trust Corp, increased their stakes in Aflac significantly, with GAMMA boosting its position by over 12,000%.
• Aflac reported a quarterly EPS of $1.78, exceeding analyst estimates, but its revenue of $4.16 billion fell short of expectations, marking a 19.0% decrease compared to the same quarter last year.

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,488,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.27% of Aflac worth $165,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 90.8% in the first 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. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price target 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 Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price 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. lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.23.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $103.55. The company had a trading volume of 3,231,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,164,891. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $102.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.89.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Aflac's revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,300,075 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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.