Independent Wealth Network Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Independent Wealth Network Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beck Bode LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 143,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,803,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Aflac by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $204,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 344.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,832,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.27 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current 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 $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AFL. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

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.