Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Short Interest Update

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,260,000 shares, a drop of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 7,890,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.43. 2,080,419 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,698,974. 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 company has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50 day moving average is $106.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.36. Aflac has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The business 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 business's revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 222,618 shares of the company's stock, 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 link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spinnaker Trust grew its stake in Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

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.