Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 24,129 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 255,079 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,129 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $28,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 39.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 64,399 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,592,000 after acquiring an additional 18,366 shares in the last quarter. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $276,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 337,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,956,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $439,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $102.56. 2,127,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,111,025. The stock's fifty day moving average is $105.02 and its 200 day moving average is $105.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $88.00 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $55.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 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.