Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 19,500 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 432,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,500 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up approximately 0.9% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Aflac worth $47,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 70,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,716,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.0% during the first quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc now owns 5,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $2,611,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.27.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5%

Aflac stock opened at $120.04 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.50. The company has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $120.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,082,471 shares of company stock worth $124,943,184 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.