Ascent Group LLC Reduces Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of 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 buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $94.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,204,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,183,637. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.23. The company has a market capitalization of $53.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $95.49.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders 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 2.12%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.46.

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.