QV Investors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

QV Investors Inc. lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 53.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,020 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spinnaker Trust raised its position in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,539,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,945,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.29.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $102.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,408,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,823. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $106.63 and a 200-day moving average of $104.93. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $56.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Aflac's payout ratio is 34.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.