Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Andra AP fonden

Andra AP fonden trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 45.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 58,000 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth $551,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in Aflac by 4.8% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,857,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 8.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,652,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,273,000 after acquiring an additional 124,706 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,056,000 after purchasing an additional 70,244 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 target price (up from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $114.06 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.43. The company has a market capitalization of $61.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $108.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.