Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Acquires 2,781 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 90.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Three investment 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1%

Aflac stock opened at $106.8910 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $102.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.81. The company has a market capitalization of $57.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized 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 repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

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.