Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 27.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,947 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,254,000 after purchasing an additional 17,892 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $197,820,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 25.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $89.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $69.00 and a one year high of $91.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.82. The stock has a market cap of $50.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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 stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.