Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Global Financial Private Client LLC

Global Financial Private Client LLC reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,748 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 107.4% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 3,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $745,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock worth $7,609,382 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.93.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL traded up $0.68 on Friday, hitting $103.49. 3,415,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,112,682. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $106.15 and its 200 day moving average is $106.18. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $86.46 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.