Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) EVP Sells $2,558,529.60 in Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL stock opened at $103.44 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $57.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.18. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 75.2% during 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 lifted its stake in Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $979,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.0% during 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 bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $250,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.73.

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.