Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Monarch Capital Management Inc.

Monarch Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,485 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises 1.8% of Monarch Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Monarch Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.93.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $102.66. 1,800,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,109,931. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $105.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.68. The company has a market capitalization of $55.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.82. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $86.46 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors 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 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

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.