Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Sells 6,704 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,704 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises approximately 1.8% of Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,385,000 after acquiring an additional 69,025 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $438,621,000 after acquiring an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $420,078,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,664,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,846,000 after acquiring an additional 32,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,082,471 shares of company stock valued at $124,943,184. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $118.03 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.45. The firm has a market cap of $60.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $120.27.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Aflac 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.