Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Sells 670 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 48.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 670 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 52,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,509,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 58.4% during the first quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 4,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.5% during the first quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Southern Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the first quarter. Southern Capital Advisors LLC now owns 17,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 131.5% during the first quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 10,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 5,952 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.15.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $92.12. 1,146,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,210,417. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $52.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.25. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $69.00 and a 52-week high of $92.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.