Jacobi Capital Management LLC Sells 594 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 594 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $109.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

About Aflac

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.