J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Sells 6,964 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,964 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE:AFL opened at $115.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $58.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.19, for a total value of $1,877,597.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,232,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,901,464,187.65. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.81, for a total transaction of $648,897.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,775,663.97. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 889,146 shares of company stock valued at $100,944,053. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.