Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $16.87 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,968 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $16,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.93.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $102.47 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $86.46 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $105.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $55.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.