Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Has $1.56 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $202,437,000 after acquiring an additional 31,752 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in Aflac by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 5.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $198,279,000 after purchasing an additional 117,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during 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. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.50 during trading on Monday, reaching $106.43. 2,080,419 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,974. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a PE 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 $105.47.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

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.