Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 31.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 37,626 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $6,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Aflac by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 9,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Beck Bode LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 128,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,606,000 after buying an additional 5,063 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $83.21. 2,901,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,308,597. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $83.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.87.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.31.

Aflac Company 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.