Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock Holdings Lessened by Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 670.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America lifted 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, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $106.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.41 and its 200-day moving average is $105.25. 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 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.58 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

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.