Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stake Increased by Hyman Charles D

Hyman Charles D raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 247,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,445 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up 1.2% of Hyman Charles D’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Hyman Charles D’s holdings in Aflac were worth $20,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Aflac by 724.8% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 7,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 6,509 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $212,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 133,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,242,000 after buying an additional 3,153 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now 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 sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $84.83. 1,693,174 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,297,630. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.36, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.31.

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.