Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 27.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 407,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 154,974 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Aflac worth $45,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 64,399 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,592,000 after purchasing an additional 18,366 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in Aflac by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $318,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 14,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,501,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.93.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6%

Aflac stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,056,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,113,644. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $87.68 and a 12 month high of $115.50. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.39. The stock has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

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.