Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Mattern Capital Management LLC

Mattern Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 112,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,003 shares during the period. Aflac comprises approximately 1.5% of Mattern Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Mattern Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,869,000 after buying an additional 136,238 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after buying an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after buying an additional 127,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $104.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $57.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.26. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.60 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.22%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 20.83%.

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.