Blue Trust Inc. Has $19.72 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 179,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,114 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $19,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AFL opened at $117.64 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.56 and a 200-day moving average of $112.39.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,082,471 shares of company stock worth $124,943,184. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

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.