Swedbank AB Purchases Shares of 321,317 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 321,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,588,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.08.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $99.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $56.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.78 and a 200-day moving average of $85.70. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $72.78 and a 1-year high of $104.90.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 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.