Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Mattern Capital Management LLC

Mattern Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,178 shares during the period. Aflac comprises 1.7% of Mattern Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Mattern Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $13,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Aflac by 10.2% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 19,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 9,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 139,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,992,000 after purchasing an additional 7,850 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $264,000. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $303,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $109.75 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac 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 sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

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.