Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 55.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 86,826 shares during the quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.21.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

AFL opened at $103.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $77.01 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $104.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.78.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.83%.

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.