Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 178.6% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AFL opened at $112.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.48. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

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.