Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 40.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 83,196 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $12,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Aflac by 13.3% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,206,000 after purchasing an additional 29,602 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 70.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 46,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,146,000 after purchasing an additional 19,037 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 21.5% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after buying an additional 3,876 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 72,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,072,000 after buying an additional 7,341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AFL. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $102.04 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $78.62 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.35.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.17%.

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.