Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 7,306 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,306 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $551,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Aflac by 4.8% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 8.2% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,652,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,273,000 after buying an additional 124,706 shares during the period. Finally, S&CO Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the second quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 84,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,887,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $112.17 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.97. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.83. The company has a market cap of $58.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total transaction of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,692,110. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.90% 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.