Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,191 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Aflac by 9.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,254,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $197,820,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Aflac by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,676,000 after purchasing an additional 348,400 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $89.16 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $67.67 and a 12-month high of $91.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $86.75 and its 200-day moving average is $83.74.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. 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. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.38.

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.