Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Mattern Capital Management LLC

Mattern Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 103,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,164 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for about 1.5% of Mattern Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Mattern Capital Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $11,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,409,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $167,237,000 after buying an additional 1,491,951 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,357,753 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $104.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $104.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.21. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $88.00 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

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.

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