New Century Financial Group LLC Sells 262 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

New Century Financial Group LLC cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 262 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3 %

AFL stock opened at $104.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.01 and a 200 day moving average of $105.70.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.