Swiss National Bank Sells 81,500 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,764,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $145,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. SVB Wealth LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 10,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 16.9% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 279,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,482,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Aflac by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 144,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,067,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE boosted its position in Aflac by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 11,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.31.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $83.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.87. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.06. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 22.08%.

About Aflac

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.