New Century Financial Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

New Century Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.67.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $104.82 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.70. The company has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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.