Dorsey Wright & Associates Raises Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Aflac were worth $4,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $140,746,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $60,954,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 146.3% in the second quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 772,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,422,000 after purchasing an additional 458,551 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 133.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,329,000 after purchasing an additional 433,134 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Aflac by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,187,000 after purchasing an additional 385,546 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 3,452 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total transaction of $397,325.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,552,188.80. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,174 shares of company stock valued at $705,050. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.00.

Aflac Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $111.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $109.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.02. The company has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.29%.

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.