Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 14,152 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 341,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,152 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Aflac worth $37,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $192,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $439,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,867,000 after buying an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $105.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.77. The stock had a trading volume of 824,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,148,395. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $92.44 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $103.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 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.