SouthState Corp Has $1.66 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

SouthState Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after buying an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 8,861.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after acquiring an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,901,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,597. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during 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%. The business’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 company earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Raymond James increased their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.