Trust Co. of Vermont Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 15,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,780,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE AFL opened at $120.95 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $60.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $104.66 and a one year high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 541,333 shares of company stock worth $63,345,006 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.58.

About Aflac

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.