Czech National Bank Buys 5,281 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,281 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Aflac were worth $12,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,140,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 21,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,262,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,503 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock worth $7,609,382 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $104.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,757,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,058. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $86.46 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $56.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $106.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Aflac's revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lowered their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.93.

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.