Welch & Forbes LLC Cuts Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 317,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,237 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $34,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1,700.8% in the 1st quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 162,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,880,000 after purchasing an additional 153,925 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Aflac by 135.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 142,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,599,000 after buying an additional 81,803 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.4% in the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 43,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,737,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 6.0% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 328,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,026,000 after acquiring an additional 18,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 7.7% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 26,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.0%

Aflac stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $121.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,193,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,392,482. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.28. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $122.80. The stock has a market cap of $62.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.