National Bank of Canada FI Has $22.54 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 261,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,675 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.46.

Aflac Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $94.99. 354,116 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,191,425. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $95.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.03. The firm has a market cap of $53.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac 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 directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.