WBH Advisory Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

WBH Advisory Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 14,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,501,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $948,000. BXM Wealth LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $359,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its position in Aflac by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 37,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on 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 increased their price target on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6 %

Aflac stock opened at $103.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $78.38 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $104.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’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 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.