Wallington Asset Management LLC Sells 1,080 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Wallington Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the period. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd 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 period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $979,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Aflac by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after purchasing an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac 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 value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $106.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.13. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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.