Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by BIP Wealth LLC

BIP Wealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 30.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,834 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,385,000 after buying an additional 69,025 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $420,078,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,664,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,846,000 after purchasing an additional 32,907 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,042,771 shares of company stock valued at $120,575,104. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $120.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $116.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.89. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $120.88.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.