Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 27,662 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 277,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,662 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 1.9% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Aflac were worth $28,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,597,000 after acquiring an additional 554,803 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of AFL stock traded down $2.56 on Friday, hitting $101.01. The stock had a trading volume of 2,176,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,691,163. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $56.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. 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 fifty day moving average price of $106.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.64.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.29.

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.