Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $30 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,982 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for about 2.1% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Aflac were worth $29,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Titleist Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,259,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,521. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $86.46 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $105.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.68. The stock has a market cap of $55.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.93.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was 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 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 a total of 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.