Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:AFL opened at $102.67 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $105.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.39. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $86.55 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $55.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.