Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Sells 368 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV reduced its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James upped their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.38.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,978 shares of company stock valued at $3,098,128. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $87.69. 1,311,085 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,043,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $88.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.68. The company has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

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.