Eads & Heald Wealth Management Cuts Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 839 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up about 1.4% of Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 104,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,801,000 after purchasing an additional 23,966 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 23,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 4,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $106.36 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.59. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.94%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

About Aflac

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.