NBT Bank N.A. Makes New $2.54 Million Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• NBT Bank acquired 22,737 Aflac shares worth approximately $2.54 million during the third quarter, joining other institutional investors; institutions and hedge funds own 67.44% of the stock.
• Aflac reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, slightly below analyst expectations, while revenue of $4.22 billion exceeded estimates. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, yielding about 2.0% annually.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with Aflac carrying an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $117.20; several firms recently lowered their targets. The stock was trading at $123.19, up 2.5%.

NBT Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,542,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE AFL opened at $123.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.56. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $105.43 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business's fifty day moving average is $116.32 and its 200 day moving average is $117.56.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%. The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 713,662 shares of company stock worth $83,323,978 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $107.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.20.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated NYSE: AFL is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.