Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Sells 10,920 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 50.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,920 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 90.8% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.54.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.60 on Friday, hitting $105.90. 420,044 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,157,379. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.87.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

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.