Aflac Incorporated $AFL Stock Position Trimmed by EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC

EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,888 shares during the quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Archer Investment Corp bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $26,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Markowski Investments acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Aflac News

Investors following AFL have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac raised its quarterly dividend 4.9%, from $0.61 to $0.64 per share. The new annualized payout is $2.56 per share, or about a 2.0% yield. Aflac dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $124 and JPMorgan to $121 from $119. The higher targets are modestly constructive, though they remain below the recent share price; Wells Fargo maintained an “equal weight” rating. Wells Fargo target update JPMorgan target update
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho raised its target to $117 from $112 but retained an “underperform” rating, signaling limited upside in its view. Mizuho forecast update

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.89, for a total transaction of $1,649,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,121,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,359,895,436.81. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.99, for a total value of $74,994.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,014,553.81. The trade was a 1.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 699,562 shares of company stock worth $81,687,749 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7%

Aflac stock opened at $127.44 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.66. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $105.76 and a fifty-two week high of $131.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 17th will be given a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 9th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.73.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.