Truist Financial Corp Reduces Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Truist Financial Corp cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 320,605 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,861 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of Aflac worth $35,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 14.9% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 17,024 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 45.0% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. SMART Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $287,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 9.3% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 123,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,767,000 after acquiring an additional 10,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 32.7% during the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.64.

Aflac Trading Up 0.0%

AFL stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.92. The company had a trading volume of 247,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,107,833. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $88.00 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

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.