Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Carson Advisory Inc.

Carson Advisory Inc. reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,733 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises 0.9% of Carson Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 8,861.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,113,000 after purchasing an additional 444,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $0.53 on Thursday, reaching $84.04. 4,761,590 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,301,187. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.00 and its 200-day moving average is $81.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $86.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 25.81%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.15.

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.