Rhumbline Advisers Reduces Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,125,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,736 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.20% of Aflac worth $116,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Aflac by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 29,602 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in shares of Aflac by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 13,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Aflac by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,988 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.86.

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 on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $104.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,579,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,172. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.30. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.38 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.9 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

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.