Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA Sells 600 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 49,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up 1.3% of Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,154,000 after purchasing an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,510,000 after purchasing an additional 349,787 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,441,000 after purchasing an additional 13,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.6% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,607,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,725,000 after purchasing an additional 99,419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $108.0650 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $102.96 and its 200-day moving average is $104.84. 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business’s revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.