Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.4% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 47,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,065,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $429,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 32.2% during the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 40.1% during the first quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.38.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $89.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $86.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.58. The company has a market cap of $50.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $66.91 and a 52 week high of $90.24.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.