Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Has $6.81 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Aflac comprises approximately 1.2% of Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in 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 during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,441,000 after purchasing an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.2% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,515,000 after purchasing an additional 343,881 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in Aflac by 6.6% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,607,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,725,000 after purchasing an additional 99,419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.38. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $59.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 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.