Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $337.45 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,021,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 121,159 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $337,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $432,201,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after purchasing an additional 594,971 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,954,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 459.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,969,000 after buying an additional 575,915 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 146.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 772,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,422,000 after buying an additional 458,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $110.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $109.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.14. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.72. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The company had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 59.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $601,538.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,447.04. The trade was a 12.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,829 shares in the company, valued at $2,824,298.75. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 31,766 shares of company stock worth $3,549,706 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.64.

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.