SouthState Corp Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

SouthState Corp decreased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,381 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,901,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,597. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.87. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $86.26. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 17.24%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.