Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,102,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 58,034 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors owned about 0.20% of Aflac worth $114,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $594,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 643,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $71,964,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Aflac by 825.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL traded down $0.69 on Thursday, hitting $106.27. 1,926,220 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,103,355. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $107.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $84.30 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.21.

About Aflac

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.