Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by O Brien Greene & Co. Inc

O Brien Greene & Co. Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s 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 owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3 %

AFL stock opened at $104.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $78.38 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.9 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac 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.