AdvisorNet Financial Inc Sells 190 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in 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 buying an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after buying an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Aflac by 8,861.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,113,000 after acquiring an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 348,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AFL. Truist Financial raised their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.38.

Aflac Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of AFL opened at $89.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $67.12 and a 1 year high of $91.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 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.