Sage Private Wealth Group LLC Raises Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sage Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Aflac by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,206,000 after purchasing an additional 29,602 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $998,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,041,000. QV Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 45,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL stock opened at $103.09 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $77.01 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

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.