SVB Wealth LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

SVB Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 21.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,414 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $197,820,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,577,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,129,000 after acquiring an additional 64,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,483,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,407,000 after acquiring an additional 46,642 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 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 $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.46.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $94.56. 1,204,055 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,183,637. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $95.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.23.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

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.