Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 291 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 291 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 grew its position in Aflac by 471.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Aflac by 670.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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 dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $102.98 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.41 and its 200-day moving average is $107.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $57.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $77.01 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.