First Command Advisory Services Inc. Sells 157 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

First Command Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $948,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.45 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $78.62 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.42 and a 200 day moving average of $107.46. The firm has a market cap of $59.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.