Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 19.4% during the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,187,000 after acquiring an additional 385,546 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,441,000 after acquiring an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,056,000 after acquiring an additional 70,244 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $108.73 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $108.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.59. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. 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. upped their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.90.

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.