BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 2,353 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 564,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,353 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $48,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Eudaimonia Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 234.6% during the fourth quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 7,325 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,558,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after buying an additional 15,855 shares in the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,481,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Aflac by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.15.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $95.11. 231,240 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,190,427. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $70.44 and a 1 year high of $95.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.64. The firm has a market cap of $54.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 value of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.