Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 216 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 374,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 216 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned 0.07% of Aflac worth $38,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after acquiring an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Aflac by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after buying an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $42,290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $105.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 60,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,521,522. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $106.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.12. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $58.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, 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 current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. 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 payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $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 is accessible through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.