ForthRight Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

ForthRight Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the period. ForthRight Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in Aflac by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 29,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 104,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,801,000 after buying an additional 23,966 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 23,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AFL. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.07.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $106.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $106.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.72. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid 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 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.