Swedbank AB Sells 7,738 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Swedbank AB decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,738 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.05% of Aflac worth $29,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 644,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,726,000 after purchasing an additional 56,097 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 5.1% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 95,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,508,000 after buying an additional 4,670 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 4.0% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,359,000 after buying an additional 2,597 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 8.7% during the first quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 84,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after buying an additional 6,768 shares during the period. Finally, DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc increased its position in Aflac by 3.4% during the first quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc now owns 10,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.09.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $121.39 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.13. The firm has a market cap of $61.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $122.80.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Aflac Company 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.