Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Holdings Trimmed by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,082 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spinnaker Trust raised its position in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.21.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL opened at $103.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $104.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $77.01 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.