Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Lowers Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,479 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Aflac were worth $15,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE AFL traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $102.98. 1,811,961 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,827,316. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Aflac's payout ratio is presently 20.83%.

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.