Welch Group LLC Sells 12,973 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Welch Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,973 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at $432,201,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Aflac by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,954,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 459.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,969,000 after acquiring an additional 575,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 146.3% in the second quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 772,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,422,000 after acquiring an additional 458,551 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the sale, the director owned 24,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 8th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.83.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:AFL opened at $110.08 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

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. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Aflac Company Profile

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.