Clarius Group LLC Sells 360 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Clarius Group LLC decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 360 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 30,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,178,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 644.7% in the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 14,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 12,584 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 64,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 105,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,080,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $112.24 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $60.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI restated an “underperform” rating and set a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac 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.