SMART Wealth LLC Acquires New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Aflac by 9.3% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 123,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,767,000 after buying an additional 10,511 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 127,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in Aflac by 1.8% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 2.9% during the first quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE AFL traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.57. The company had a trading volume of 994,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,150,489. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.32 and a 200 day moving average of $105.21. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $88.00 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.50.

About Aflac

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.