Swiss National Bank Has $145.60 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,764,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of Aflac worth $145,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. SVB Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.4% in the third quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 10,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 16.9% during the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 279,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,482,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Aflac by 16.1% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 144,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,067,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE increased its holdings in Aflac by 8.6% during the third quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 11,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.31.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $83.21 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.08 and a 200-day moving average of $81.87. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

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.