Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Has $698,000 Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Aflac were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,161,000 after purchasing an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,441,000 after buying an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Aflac by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,515,000 after buying an additional 343,881 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in Aflac by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,607,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,725,000 after buying an additional 99,419 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE AFL opened at $112.24 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $106.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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 business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

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.