Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 750 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 750 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value 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 approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.46.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7 %

Aflac stock traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,146,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,190,487. The stock has a market cap of $53.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $95.49.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.