Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 4,483 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,483 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $28,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 79.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $979,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $250,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $106.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.70. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 2.21%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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. 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. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Aflac 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.