Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $109.39 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.53 and its 200-day moving average is $90.25. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $74.89 and a twelve month high of $111.14. The company has a market cap of $61.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.50.

Aflac Profile

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.