Alta Advisers Ltd Invests $269,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.50.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $104.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 994,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,152,349. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $88.00 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.25 and a 200 day moving average of $105.26. The company 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.