Wedbush Securities Inc. Reduces Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 48.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,899 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,450. This trade represents a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $113.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $109.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.74. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.54 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Company 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.