Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 50.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,150 shares during the quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,042,771 shares of company stock valued at $120,575,104. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $118.49 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $120.29. The stock has a market cap of $60.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.76.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.