JGP Wealth Management LLC Sells 290 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

JGP Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Aflac comprises approximately 1.5% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Aflac by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Aflac by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,800,000 after acquiring an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Aflac by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,653,000 after purchasing an additional 22,637 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,810,000 after acquiring an additional 86,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,535,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.61 on Friday, reaching $113.22. The stock had a trading volume of 532,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,243,729. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $63.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.