ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 197,215 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,781,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 197,215 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $184,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.21.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $103.97 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $85.77 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 36.25%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,802 shares of company stock worth $3,411,877 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.