UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Buys 56,776 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 1.1%, acquiring an additional 56,776 shares during the first quarter, resulting in total holdings of approximately $590 million.
• Aflac announced a stock repurchase plan allowing the company to buy back 100 million shares, indicating a belief that its shares are currently undervalued.
• The company reported earnings of $1.78 per share, surpassing expectations, but its revenue for the quarter declined by 19% year-over-year.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 56,776 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.98% of Aflac worth $590,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 121.9% during the first 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 during the period. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other 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 sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $106.25 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $103.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed 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. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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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