First Bancorp Inc ME Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 12,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at $4,093,787,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $420,078,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $404,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $298,418,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 161.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,738 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Down 1.7%

AFL stock opened at $116.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $104.66 and a one year high of $130.22. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $121.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 494,225 shares of company stock worth $57,960,715 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.