Profund Advisors LLC Sells 1,318 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Profund Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,318 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $551,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in Aflac by 4.8% during the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,857,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 8.2% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,652,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,273,000 after buying an additional 124,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Aflac by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,056,000 after buying an additional 70,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total transaction of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,110. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $114.57 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.43. The company has a market capitalization of $60.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. Analysts expect 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 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.