Whittier Trust Co. Sells 722 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 722 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $107.81 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $57.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.86. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $108.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.45. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.43.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. Sell-side analysts predict 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 Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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 transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.