iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 12,317 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 20.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,317 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,254,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $197,820,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the first 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. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,577,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,129,000 after buying an additional 64,202 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,483,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,407,000 after buying an additional 46,642 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $110.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $73.62 and a twelve month high of $110.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $96.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.