QV Investors Inc. Has $2.11 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

QV Investors Inc. boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,626,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $107.22 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $108.67 and its 200-day moving average is $105.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $57.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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 company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $110.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

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.