Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,467 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $2,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Insight Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.0% in the first quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.2% in the first quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,830 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 18.0% in the first quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.7% in the first quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 109,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.7% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 17,549 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $102.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.24. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $90.38 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The company's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders 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 is currently 36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.07.

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.

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