Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.21.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $103.62 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $77.01 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.72.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. 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. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.