Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,415,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after buying an additional 368,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. 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 research note on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly 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 available through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $91.00. 1,046,431 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,229,967. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.17 and its 200 day moving average is $83.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $67.02 and a one year high of $91.15.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend 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.