Curbstone Financial Management Corp Reduces Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Curbstone Financial Management Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,050 shares during the quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AFL. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $110.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $107.82 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 stock has a market capitalization of $57.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.44. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $108.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.46.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac Company Profile

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.