Quadrant Capital Group LLC Sells 717 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

by · The Cerbat Gem

Quadrant Capital Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 717 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $590,161,000 after purchasing an additional 56,776 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in Aflac by 19.4% in 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 buying an additional 385,546 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,441,000 after acquiring an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,056,000 after acquiring an additional 70,244 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on AFL

Aflac Stock Down 0.2%

Aflac stock opened at $110.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $110.31 and its 200-day moving average is $106.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.83.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s payout ratio is 31.85%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total transaction of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,692,110. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 22,822 shares of company stock valued at $2,571,002 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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