Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock Holdings Lessened by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 206,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,296 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.15.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 708,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,194,044. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $69.92 and a fifty-two week high of $94.85.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

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.