Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 288,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,625 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 1.4% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC owned 0.05% of Aflac worth $25,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $197,820,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Aflac by 196.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,945,000 after acquiring an additional 320,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $74.89 and a 52 week high of $111.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.68.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. Aflac’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AFL. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.50.

Aflac Company Profile

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.