Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 2,869 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,811 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,869 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $5,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Raymond James reduced their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The sale 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $102.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,774,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,105,574. The company has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business's 50 day moving average is $105.75 and its 200-day moving average is $106.07. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $86.46 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). 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 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 36.25%.

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.