Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Sells 4,809 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 35.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,809 shares during the period. Northstar Financial Companies Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Advisors Preferred LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 87.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 4,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 2,284 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its holdings in Aflac by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 28,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 110,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth $528,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $122.14 on Wednesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.47. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $124.00. The company has a market capitalization of $62.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

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.