Knuff & Co LLC Sells 700 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Knuff & Co LLC lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 10,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 5.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 689,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,936,000 after purchasing an additional 34,057 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 279,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,482,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,938,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,533,085. The company’s 50-day moving average is $83.14 and its 200-day moving average is $81.89. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $86.26. The firm has a market cap of $47.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 accessible through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.31.

Aflac 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.