Dearborn Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,116 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $832,000. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 153,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 323.8% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 68,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,855,000 after acquiring an additional 52,100 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 141.3% during the 1st quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 28,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,436,000 after acquiring an additional 16,615 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 493,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,346,000 after acquiring an additional 6,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.15.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

AFL traded up $1.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $95.09. 407,311 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,191,712. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.76 and a 200 day moving average of $84.64. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $70.44 and a 12-month high of $95.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

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.