Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 8,757 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 70.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,757 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 21,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 53,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,110 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Aflac by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 84,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,985,000 after acquiring an additional 10,973 shares during the period. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 526,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,397,000 after purchasing an additional 5,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $84.54 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.00 and its 200 day moving average is $81.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $64.10 and a 12 month high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by 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.