AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Decreases Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 214,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,194 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third 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 purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $104.82 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.81. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $58.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Aflac Profile

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.