Secure Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Secure Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 41.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,054 shares during the quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Spinnaker Trust boosted its position in Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd 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. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Aflac by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted 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 worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.5% in the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Aflac Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $104.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $106.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.70. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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.