Eads & Heald Wealth Management Sells 3,462 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,462 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for approximately 1.5% of Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Aflac by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,800,000 after acquiring an additional 5,912 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Aflac by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,653,000 after acquiring an additional 22,637 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,810,000 after purchasing an additional 86,578 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,535,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.87.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.71 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.68. The company has a market cap of $58.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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.