Vest Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Vest Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 770,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 112,183 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up about 1.1% of Vest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $81,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.45.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AFL opened at $110.78 on Monday. 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 $115.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $107.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.45. The firm has a market cap of $59.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. 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 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac 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.