OLD National Bancorp IN Cuts Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

OLD National Bancorp IN decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 428 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 29.3% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 32.4% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $3,099,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $552,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.2% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 105,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,378,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $108.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $60.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.