Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Metis Global Partners LLC cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 714 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.31.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $85.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $48.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.94. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.