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

Ibex Wealth Advisors cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $524,846,000 after acquiring an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Aflac by 8.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $185,869,000 after acquiring an additional 136,238 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $177,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company's 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. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6 %

AFL stock traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $108.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,237,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,622,085. The firm has a market cap of $60.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company's 50-day moving average price is $105.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.67.

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.