IFM Investors Pty Ltd Cuts Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

IFM Investors Pty Ltd cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,565 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $12,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $107.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $103.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.