Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 152,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,771 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at $240,000. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 245,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,476,000 after purchasing an additional 4,901 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $422,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other 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 value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

AFL stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.04. 105,002 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,209,155. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $110.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.16. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.