By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 67.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,317 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Aflac Trading Down 0.7 %
Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $107.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $105.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.
Aflac Increases Dividend
The firm 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 dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Barclays increased their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI decreased 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Aflac
Insider Activity at Aflac
In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
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.
Further Reading
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