Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Ibex Wealth Advisors

Ibex Wealth Advisors lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,277 shares during the quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Aflac were worth $1,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,597,000 after acquiring an additional 554,803 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after buying an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock traded up $1.20 on Wednesday, hitting $108.48. 77,076 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,576,794. The stock has a market cap of $60.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.73 and a 200-day moving average of $106.25. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.