First National Trust Co Sells 157 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

First National Trust Co lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $108.70 and its 200-day moving average is $105.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac 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.