Tyche Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 513 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $107.33 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $105.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.69 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.