Aflac (NYSE:AFL) EVP Steven Kent Beaver Sells 5,492 Shares of Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total value of $601,538.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,447.04. The trade was a 12.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Steven Kent Beaver also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, December 5th, Steven Kent Beaver sold 3,452 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.26, for a total value of $377,165.52.

Aflac Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $109.48 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.72. The stock has a market cap of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 23.55% and a return on equity of 14.97%. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.55.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $432,201,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1,184.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after buying an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,078,000 after buying an additional 699,080 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Aflac by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $60,954,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.