Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises approximately 2.3% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.87 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $74.89 and a twelve month high of $111.14. The company has a market capitalization of $61.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.