Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases Shares of 400 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $89.41 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $69.00 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.69.

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.