18,747 Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 305,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,747 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for 1.5% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Aflac were worth $34,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,843,000 after buying an additional 1,132,091 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $404,639,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,555,000 after buying an additional 603,426 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,134,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 713,662 shares of company stock valued at $83,323,978. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE AFL traded up $0.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $119.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 357,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,266,136. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $59.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.33. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $105.43 and a fifty-two week high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.