Concord Asset Management LLC VA Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 23.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,369 shares during the quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $140,746,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 133.2% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,329,000 after buying an additional 433,134 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,515,000 after buying an additional 343,881 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 96.0% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 407,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,056,000 after buying an additional 199,583 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. UBS Group cut 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. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4%

AFL opened at $110.78 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $107.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.45.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 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 during the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were 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 was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

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

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.