Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Bought by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 353,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $29,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,558,000. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 298,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,604,000 after purchasing an additional 100,937 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 353.3% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 11,499 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Aflac by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after buying an additional 348,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, G&S Capital LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 31,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after buying an additional 12,551 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. 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 note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $83.21 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.90. The company has a market capitalization 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 16.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

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.