Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Has $1.87 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eudaimonia Partners LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 234.6% during the fourth quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 7,325 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $1,558,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after buying an additional 15,855 shares during the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,481,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $12,546,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.69.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.34 on Thursday, hitting $89.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,292,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,191,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $87.35 and its 200-day moving average is $83.97. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $69.00 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The company has a market capitalization of $50.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac 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.