Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,396,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 76,353 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.62% of Aflac worth $377,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 121.9% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company'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 value of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% 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 worth $4,304,295. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.07.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE AFL traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $102.22. 2,123,918 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,122,342. The stock has a market cap of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $103.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.25. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is 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.