Pitcairn Co. Has $739,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Pitcairn Co. boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $94.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,238,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,197,656. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $95.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $53.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.46.

Aflac Company 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.