Private Trust Co. NA Has $791,000 Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Aflac were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Aflac Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.56.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.17%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

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.