CENTRAL TRUST Co Trims Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,475 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 209,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,652,000 after purchasing an additional 73,473 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 17,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 86.1% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Aflac by 77.1% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 7,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $107.31 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $105.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.71.

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.