Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Sells 137 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Aflac were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Aflac by 9.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Aflac by 5.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after buying an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,254,000 after buying an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $197,820,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.38.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $89.64 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $50.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $66.91 and a fifty-two week high of $90.24.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.