Aviance Capital Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE AFL traded down $0.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $89.03. 207,969 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,233,339. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.82. The stock has a market cap of $50.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $69.00 and a 1 year high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.46.

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.