D.A. Davidson & CO. Reduces Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,095 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business's 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.04. 3,539,580 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,836,717. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $104.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.26. The company has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $78.62 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac's payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

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.