Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC Sells 3,546 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 52.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,546 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other 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 value 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 approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.21.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $103.62 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $77.01 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.