Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $106.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $106.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.72. The company has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.94%.

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.