Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 865 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 865 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 3.6% during the second quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 14.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 9,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.0 %

Aflac stock opened at $104.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.59. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS 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 return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Company 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.