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

Ascent Group LLC cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund 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.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 80.0% during the first 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 period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.46.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $94.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,204,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,183,637. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.23. The firm 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 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $95.49.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

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.