NBC Securities Inc. Invests $44,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $349,699,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $102.66 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $105.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.68. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $86.46 and a 52-week high of $115.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $55.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Aflac’s 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.