Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Short Interest Update

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,260,000 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 7,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on 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 Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL traded up $0.50 on Friday, hitting $106.43. 2,080,419 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,974. The company has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.13. Aflac has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

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.