First National Trust Co Sells 3,494 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

First National Trust Co lowered its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,494 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 132,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,913 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 19,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 77,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.21. 2,938,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,533,085. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.14 and a 200 day moving average of $81.89. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.31.

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.