Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,772,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 248,275 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $305,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $115.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.76.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 909,146 shares of company stock worth $103,061,812. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.