SVB Wealth LLC Decreases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

SVB Wealth LLC decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,423 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Aflac by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during 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 valued at $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position 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 valued at $192,441,000 after acquiring an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted 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 acquiring an additional 99,419 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE AFL opened at $108.3520 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $57.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week 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 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 firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share buyback 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 buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three 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 MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

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.