Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,960 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Aflac were worth $2,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $280,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Aflac by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,854,000 after acquiring an additional 15,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 814,028 shares of company stock worth $91,815,931. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $117.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $59.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $119.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.68.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.