Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Has $1.45 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Aflac comprises 0.8% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in Aflac by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,187,000 after purchasing an additional 385,546 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $8,420,000. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $375,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 38.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,129,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,135,000 after acquiring an additional 315,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3%

Aflac stock opened at $107.22 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.60.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $102.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $110.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

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.