New Hampshire Trust Trims Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

New Hampshire Trust lessened its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFLFree Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Aflac were worth $727,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.07.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Aflac

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $106.43 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $106.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.47.

Aflac (NYSE:AFLGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Aflac Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Aflac (NYSE:AFL)

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