Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 409,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,108 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $33,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.31.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $84.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $64.10 and a one year high of $86.26. The company has a market cap of $48.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.