Stewart & Patten Co. LLC Sells 500 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Stewart & Patten Co. LLC lowered its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 80.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.46.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AFL traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $89.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,850,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,246,846. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $69.00 and a one year high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $50.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.03 and its 200-day moving average is $83.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.