Chesapeake Wealth Management Has $535,000 Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Chesapeake Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $535,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $979,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $106.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $106.41 and its 200-day moving average is $105.47. The stock has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company 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%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.