Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 22.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,750 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlTi Global Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 105.8% in the first quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 4,006 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,216,000 after acquiring an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Decker Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $323,000. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,691,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:AFL opened at $123.34 on Wednesday. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $125.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.92.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.50.

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.