Oakworth Capital Inc. Trims Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Oakworth Capital Inc. decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Spinnaker Trust increased its stake in Aflac by 2.7% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.5% during the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.33 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.09 and a 200 day moving average of $106.74. 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 stock has a market cap of $59.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.69 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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, Bank of America lifted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.71.

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.