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

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Apexium Financial LP grew its position in Aflac by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 459.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 108,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,088,000 after buying an additional 88,783 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 95,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,843,000 after acquiring an additional 6,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacksonville Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $838,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.7 %

AFL stock opened at $107.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.15. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. 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%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.