Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 3,436 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,436 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,113,000 after buying an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Aflac by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,676,000 after buying an additional 348,400 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $89.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,292,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,191,640. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $69.00 and a 1-year high of $91.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.35 and its 200-day moving average is $83.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial boosted 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 boosted their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

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.