Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,610 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,753 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $543,154,000 after purchasing an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $349,699,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:AFL traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $101.56. 1,348,220 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,152,728. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $91.99 and a one year 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 fifty day moving average price of $103.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.23. The company has a market cap of $54.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The company's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group boosted 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. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.