Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 1,064 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 90.8% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $110.81 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. 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 capitalization of $59.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $105.97 and a 200-day moving average of $105.36.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Aflac

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.