Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Has $7.02 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Aflac comprises approximately 1.4% of Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Aflac by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 8,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 27,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,022,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1,251.4% during the 1st quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 84,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,381,000 after acquiring an additional 78,125 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NovaPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 50,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,584,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $104.57. 994,901 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,147,072. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $88.00 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $56.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.21.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Aflac Company 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.