Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 4,824 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,824 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 27,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,861,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 107.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 3,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 9,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.76 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AFL. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

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.