Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Sells 310 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after buying an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,254,000 after purchasing an additional 17,892 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after purchasing an additional 348,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $0.34 on Thursday, hitting $89.09. 1,292,717 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,191,640. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $69.00 and a 52 week high of $91.15. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.97. The company has a market cap of $50.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Company 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.