Independent Advisor Alliance Has $4.57 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Independent Advisor Alliance lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 691 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. SouthState Corp raised its stake in Aflac by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 10,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $140,746,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 13,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Lcnb Corp acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Aflac by 169.0% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 186,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,747,000 after purchasing an additional 117,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.42 and its 200 day moving average is $104.89. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm’s revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 52.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.23.

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.