Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 45.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,522 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $979,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $108.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.