Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $13,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position 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 worth $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in Aflac by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in Aflac by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,869,000 after purchasing an additional 136,238 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 10,487 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $105.73 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (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, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

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.