Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Holdings Trimmed by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 80.0% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $90.36. 94,390 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,222,033. The company has a market cap of $51.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $67.02 and a twelve month high of $90.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.38.

Aflac 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.