Toth Financial Advisory Corp Decreases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 113.0% in the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 44,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,390,000 after purchasing an additional 23,433 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 285,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,875,000 after purchasing an additional 6,079 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 18,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 7,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 111.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.31. 3,455,193 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,288,406. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.03 and a 200-day moving average of $83.82. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $68.34 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The stock has a market cap of $50.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.46.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.