Clarity Financial LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Clarity Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

AFL stock opened at $108.25 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $60.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

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.