Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 55.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 86,826 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $979,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $134,395,000 after acquiring an additional 45,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $250,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.98. 1,811,961 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,827,316. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $77.01 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is an increase from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

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.