ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,567,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 164,759 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $165,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,161,000 after purchasing an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after purchasing an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 19.4% in the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,187,000 after buying an additional 385,546 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,441,000 after buying an additional 13,575 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,056,000 after buying an additional 70,244 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $114.06 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.43. The stock has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $108.98 and a 200 day moving average of $105.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.50.

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.