Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon reduced its Aflac stake by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 248,275 shares and ending with 2.77 million shares valued at about $305.8 million.
• Analyst sentiment on Aflac is mixed but leans cautious: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $112.27, though Piper Sandler recently raised its target to $130.
• Aflac reported $1.75 EPS for the latest quarter, missing estimates, but revenue came in slightly above expectations at $4.24 billion; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,772,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 248,275 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.53% of Aflac worth $305,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $280,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,854,000 after acquiring an additional 15,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Aflac from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $115.44 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.76. The company has a market cap of $58.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Aflac's revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is 27.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 909,146 shares of company stock worth $103,061,812. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac's product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.

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