Garde Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $103.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $104.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.24. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $88.00 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.93.

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.