Avanza Fonder AB Sells 5,770 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Avanza Fonder AB lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,770 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ibex Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Aflac by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 11,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $3,643,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.93.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE AFL opened at $102.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $86.46 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $55.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $105.00 and its 200 day moving average is $105.78.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company’s revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.25%.

Aflac 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.