Pathstone Holdings LLC Has $13.18 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Pathstone Holdings LLC cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,415 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $13,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $105.73 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.51. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $86.46 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,802 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,877. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.21.

Aflac Company 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.