Appleton Partners Inc. MA Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AFL opened at $103.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $104.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.26. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $88.00 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 36.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.93.

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.