Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 565 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after buying an additional 15,855 shares in the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,481,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,546,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 633,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,262,000 after purchasing an additional 44,875 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

AFL stock opened at $108.59 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $101.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.89. The company has a market capitalization of $60.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $74.89 and a 52 week high of $111.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.50.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.