Naples Global Advisors LLC Sells 125 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Naples Global Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in Aflac by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in Aflac by 8.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,869,000 after purchasing an additional 136,238 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after buying an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after buying an additional 127,911 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $104.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.20 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $57.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 20.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.