OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Sells 581 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 18.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 581 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $276,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:AFL opened at $100.62 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $92.44 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $103.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 36.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 70,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.