Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Sells 18,230 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 44.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 18,230 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,286,042,000 after buying an additional 288,482 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Aflac by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $543,154,000 after purchasing an additional 556,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $349,699,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.0%

Aflac stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $101.47. 1,955,702 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,153,398. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $92.44 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $103.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.19.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.07.

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.