Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 385 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Highland Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Aflac by 169.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $105.12 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $88.00 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $56.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.25%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents 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 worth $4,304,295 in the last ninety days. 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.