Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 129,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,786 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up about 2.5% of Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s holdings in Aflac were worth $13,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in Aflac by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,869,000 after acquiring an additional 136,238 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after acquiring an additional 127,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.76 on Thursday. 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 price is $105.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.25. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $59.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AFL. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.