Flputnam Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in Aflac by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Aflac by 8.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,869,000 after buying an additional 136,238 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,529,000 after acquiring an additional 127,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $109.46 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $78.62 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $104.56 and its 200 day moving average is $107.56. The company has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

Aflac Profile

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.