Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Aflac were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in 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 during the period. 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 buying an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 valued at $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.21.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $103.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $104.66 and a 200-day moving average of $106.87.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.83%.

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.