Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Unison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.6% in the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 45,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,873,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $100,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $112.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,256,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,235,127. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $109.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.53.

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.