Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,621 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Aflac Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $110.81 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.36. The company has a market cap of $59.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid 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 was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AFL. UBS Group decreased 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. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI restated an “underperform” rating and set a $106.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other 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 transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by 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.