Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 375 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $3,249,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 11.1% in the first quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 74,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,379,000 after purchasing an additional 7,414 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 1.2% during the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Eagle Ridge Investment Management purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.69.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $89.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $69.00 and a 1-year high of $91.15. The company has a market capitalization of $50.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.35 and a 200-day moving average of $83.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.