Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $13,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.15. 414,663 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,232,305. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.82. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $69.00 and a 1-year high of $91.15. The firm has a market cap of $50.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.69.

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.