Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 48.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,459 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tredje AP fonden acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,169,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the second quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 9,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $527,000. Syverson Strege & Co acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Finally, AlphaStar Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $680,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $106.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $108.60 and a 200 day moving average of $105.58.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.