Brightwater Advisory LLC Sells 392 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Brightwater Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for 2.7% of Brightwater Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Brightwater Advisory LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Aflac by 670.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth $42,290,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $106.77 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders 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 2.17%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.17%.

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.