Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Acquired by City Holding Co.

City Holding Co. boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 56,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,926 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 90.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Aflac Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:AFL opened at $111.36 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. 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 company has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $105.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.25.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 52.61%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.