ORG Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

ORG Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,597,000 after acquiring an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during 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 last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE AFL opened at $101.01 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $56.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $106.63 and a 200 day moving average of $104.72.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

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.