Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by 49 Wealth Management LLC

49 Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. 49 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $197,820,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 8,861.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after purchasing an additional 444,829 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Aflac by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after purchasing an additional 348,400 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 196.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.15.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $92.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,526,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,008,867. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.40. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $69.00 and a 1-year high of $93.08. 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 market cap of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

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.