Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group Sells 150 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.07.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.22. The stock had a trading volume of 213,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,145,927. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.18. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $92.44 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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.