Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $28.73 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,662 shares during the period. Aflac comprises approximately 1.9% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $28,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,000 after buying an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,202,000. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 439.3% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,254,000 after buying an additional 11,470 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,219,000 after buying an additional 4,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $3.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.55. 470,023 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,399,940. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Company 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.