Swedbank AB Sells 11,919 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Swedbank AB lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 301,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,919 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $31,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after acquiring an additional 118,720 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Aflac by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,869,000 after buying an additional 136,238 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,487 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $105.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.26. The company has a market cap of $60.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Company 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.