Segment Wealth Management LLC Invests $475,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Segment Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 22.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,357,753 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 11.9% in 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 buying an additional 556,394 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $349,699,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $103.31 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $88.00 and a 52 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $104.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm 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 2.25%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.93.

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.

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