Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $69.19 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 569,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,278 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.10% of Aflac worth $69,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth $206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $276,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AFL. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.07.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $101.96. The stock had a trading volume of 238,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,145,422. 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 $55.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $93.00 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock's fifty day moving average is $103.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.20.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 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.

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