Forsta AP Fonden Sells 1,800 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Aflac were worth $16,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 29,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 15,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.50.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE AFL opened at $114.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $109.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.43.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total transaction of $114,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,110. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.