Madrona Financial Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Madrona Financial Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Madrona Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, 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 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 $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE AFL opened at $104.73 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $106.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.71. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. 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 company has a market cap of $58.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AFL shares. 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.