Truist Financial Corp Sells 51,969 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 431,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 51,969 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $47,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Aflac by 95.6% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Aflac from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.36.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock valued at $63,514,634. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $114.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $58.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.62. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.32. 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 50 day moving average price is $111.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.87.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 27.70%.

About Aflac

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.