SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Sells 490 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 490 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $979,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after purchasing an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $250,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.3 %

AFL opened at $104.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $105.88 and its 200-day moving average is $105.81. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

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.