Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Trims Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 48,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,890 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.52. The stock has a market cap of $58.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $102.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

About Aflac

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.