Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Tidal Investments LLC

Tidal Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 76.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 49,134 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $948,000. Willis Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Aflac by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,529,000 after buying an additional 127,911 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $192,000. Finally, Apexium Financial LP lifted its holdings in Aflac by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $101.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,745,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,114,539. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $86.46 and a one year high of $115.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $106.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The business's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,552 shares of company stock worth $7,609,382 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.