State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 17,387 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 82,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,387 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $103.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $77.01 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.74.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS 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 given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.17%.

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.