The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 8,761 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company sold 8,761 shares of Aflac, reducing its stake by 2.9%, while still owning 294,574 shares valued at approximately $32.75 million.
• Aflac's stock price target has recently been adjusted by multiple analysts, with Morgan Stanley raising it to $113 and Goldman Sachs maintaining a "hold" rating.
• Aflac announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%, with a stock repurchase program for up to 100 million shares authorized by its Board of Directors.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,761 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.05% of Aflac worth $32,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Aflac by 44.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 438,668 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,775,000 after purchasing an additional 135,214 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $239,000. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 27,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. now owns 9,914 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in Aflac by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 44,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,934,000 after purchasing an additional 8,461 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,547,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,480,129. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $103.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.85. 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Aflac's payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group cut their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business'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 value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% 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.