KBC Group NV Sells 18,907 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,907 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Aflac were worth $16,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in Aflac by 2.7% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AFL opened at $107.39 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $105.81 and its 200 day moving average is $106.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $59.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

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.