Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $979,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after acquiring an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL stock opened at $103.62 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $77.01 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.72.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Company 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.