Banque Pictet & Cie SA Purchases 258 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 108,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $104.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $78.20 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.05.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 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, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.