Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV

Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 259 shares during the quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV’s holdings in Aflac were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $192,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth $865,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Down 1.6%

AFL stock opened at $102.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $55.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $88.00 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $104.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.20.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.93.

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.