Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 25,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 2.8% during the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 5,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.69.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.28. 758,299 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,235,032. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.82. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $69.00 and a 1-year high of $91.15. The company has a market cap of $50.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.