Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Sawyer & Company Inc

Sawyer & Company Inc lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 910 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Aflac stock opened at $104.80 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $106.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.12. 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 company has a market capitalization of $58.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its 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. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 34.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

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.