Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 59,108 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 409,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,108 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Aflac worth $33,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. 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. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $84.73 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.94. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The company has a market capitalization of $48.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Raymond James raised their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on 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 reduced their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.