Guinness Asset Management LTD Lowers Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Guinness Asset Management LTD cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,301,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 71,809 shares during the period. Aflac makes up about 4.1% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Aflac were worth $252,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 95.6% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.82.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $117.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.65. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 814,028 shares of company stock valued at $91,815,931. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Company 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.