Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Takes $3.05 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 25,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $782,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $1,780,000. Principle Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $1,109,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $427,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $145,675,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total value of $74,460.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,059,311. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.09, for a total value of $1,574,170.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 50,872,690 shares in the company, valued at $6,160,174,032.10. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 541,333 shares of company stock valued at $63,345,006. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $120.95 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $104.66 and a 12 month high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.