SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in Aflac by 86.1% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.93.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $104.14 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $86.46 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.09. The company has a market capitalization of $56.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

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.