Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Pensionfund Sabic

Pensionfund Sabic boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 10.3% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,823,000 after acquiring an additional 3,861 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.5% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 35,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 28.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $103.62. 122,975 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,041,032. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.48.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 34.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.