Edge Capital Group LLC Sells 919 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Edge Capital Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 919 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 29,602 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Aflac by 70.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 46,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,146,000 after purchasing an additional 19,037 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 21.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 3,876 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 72,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,072,000 after buying an additional 7,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $203,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Up 1.9 %

AFL stock opened at $104.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $57.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.62 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $104.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued 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 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio 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.