OLD National Bancorp IN Cuts Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

OLD National Bancorp IN lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,771 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,478,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,626,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI restated an “underperform” rating and set a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $113.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $106.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.40. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.44.

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

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

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.