Maj Invest Holding A S Sells 37,075 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Maj Invest Holding A S lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 582,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,075 shares during the period. Aflac makes up about 2.3% of Maj Invest Holding A S’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Maj Invest Holding A S’s holdings in Aflac were worth $64,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0%

Aflac stock opened at $104.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $88.00 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

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.