Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by North Star Asset Management Inc.

North Star Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after acquiring an additional 288,482 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $102.59 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $86.46 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $106.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently 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.