Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Position Lessened by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,213,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $125,519,000 after purchasing an additional 11,345 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 242,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,217,000 after purchasing an additional 24,173 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 71,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 401,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,061,000 after purchasing an additional 183,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $102.21 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $55.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $102.42 and its 200-day moving average is $104.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.