Truist Financial Corp Sells 323,505 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 49.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 329,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 323,505 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.06% of Aflac worth $34,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Spinnaker Trust lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.7% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was 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 owns 222,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $2.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.04. 3,539,580 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,836,717. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $78.62 and a 52-week high of $115.50. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $104.16 and a 200-day moving average of $107.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

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.