Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Dorsey Wright & Associates

Dorsey Wright & Associates decreased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 22.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,105 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 1.2% of Dorsey Wright & Associates' portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Dorsey Wright & Associates' holdings in Aflac were worth $4,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Aflac by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 11.9% during the fourth 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 worth $543,154,000 after buying an additional 556,394 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $349,699,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,676,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $173,400,000 after acquiring an additional 263,134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $105.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.15.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $102.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,409,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,441,744. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $103.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $94.00 and a one year high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

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.