Willis Investment Counsel Cuts Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Willis Investment Counsel trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,494 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 2.0% of Willis Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Aflac were worth $30,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $253,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $311,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE AFL opened at $113.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $64.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.96. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.