Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 147,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,717 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $16,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management increased its position in shares of Aflac by 39.7% during the third quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 1,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $424,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.83.

Aflac Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $57.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.92. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 31,766 shares of company stock worth $3,549,706 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.