Capital City Trust Co. FL Buys 12,894 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 73.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,894 shares during the quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 1.9% in the second quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 30,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,178,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 644.7% during the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 14,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 12,584 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 9.6% during the second quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the second quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 64,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the second quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 105,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% 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. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of AFL opened at $112.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.39.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.15.

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.