Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 9,564 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 437,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,564 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $36,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Aflac by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Aflac by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after buying an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Aflac by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $369,036,000 after acquiring an additional 227,516 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,236,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,659,000 after acquiring an additional 49,479 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded up $1.52 on Monday, reaching $84.73. 1,952,154 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,304,566. The stock has a market cap of $48.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $64.10 and a 12 month high of $86.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.94.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.31.

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.