Greenfield Savings Bank Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Greenfield Savings Bank lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Greenfield Savings Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $102.52 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $56.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $106.59 and a 200 day moving average of $105.02.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 34.94%.

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.