Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 119 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in Aflac by 420.5% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 7,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 5,870 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $257,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $738,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 60.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 5,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $109.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $78.62 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $104.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.56.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

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.