KBC Group NV Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

KBC Group NV decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,094 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Aflac were worth $16,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $163,409,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 12,313.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $167,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,951 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.57. 994,901 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,150,489. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $88.00 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The business's 50-day moving average is $104.32 and its 200-day moving average is $105.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Aflac's payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Aflac 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.