CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 146 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 146 shares during the quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of Aflac by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Aflac by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,869,000 after purchasing an additional 136,238 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,153,000 after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $104.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.81. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction 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 $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

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.