U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 206,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,163 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up approximately 0.7% of U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $22,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $192,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 42,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.50.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AFL
Aflac Stock Performance
Shares of AFL stock opened at $104.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $56.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $88.00 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $104.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The business's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Aflac Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.22%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Aflac
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report).

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