Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 53.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,020 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,319,000 after purchasing an additional 285,576 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after acquiring an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,437,000 after purchasing an additional 31,752 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,382,000 after purchasing an additional 83,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $198,279,000 after acquiring an additional 117,504 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.39 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $102.38. 657,938 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,539,802. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $106.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $56.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.