Jacobs & Co. CA Has $214,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Jacobs & Co. CA lessened its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Aflac were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after buying an additional 405,847 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL traded down $2.64 on Friday, reaching $100.93. 917,374 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,475,130. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $56.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.64. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

Aflac Company 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.