Bangor Savings Bank Grows Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 34.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Aflac by 6.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Aflac by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Aflac by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,653,000 after acquiring an additional 22,637 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,810,000 after acquiring an additional 86,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,535,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $112.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $63.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $106.77 and its 200 day moving average is $94.19. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.