Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $2.19 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Aflac by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $883,000. Versor Investments LP increased its position in shares of Aflac by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 5,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 33,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,494,000 after buying an additional 1,963 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $109.39 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $74.89 and a 52-week high of $111.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.25. 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 company has a market capitalization of $61.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac 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.