Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Has $1.56 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $106.43 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.36. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a PE 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.07.

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.