Forsta AP Fonden Has $16.15 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 156,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Aflac were worth $16,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $107.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $105.73 and a 200-day moving average of $106.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

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.