Centiva Capital LP Reduces Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Centiva Capital LP reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,254 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in Aflac were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $105.91 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $107.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $85.43 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business’s revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

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.