Somerset Trust Co Has $5.67 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Somerset Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 663 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up approximately 2.1% of Somerset Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Spinnaker Trust grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 2.5% during the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents 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 hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $106.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.13. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 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.