NBT Bank N A NY Decreases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

NBT Bank N A NY trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,626,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.23.

Aflac Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $112.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% 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.