Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 110,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Aflac were worth $12,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $242,000. Elefante Mark B acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $200,000. Nicholas Wealth LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the first quarter. Nicholas Wealth LLC. now owns 73,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,152,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 252,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $103.40 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $94.03 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $55.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.