Piscataqua Savings Bank Has $80,000 Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 44.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $80,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $189,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,552 shares of company stock worth $7,501,752. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays upped their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $103.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $86.46 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.25%.

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.