Crews Bank & Trust Invests $745,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 7,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 3,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Invesco LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 27,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,861,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 107.4% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its position in shares of Aflac by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 3,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 9,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $108.41 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $105.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.25. The company has a market cap of $60.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.