Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Has $386,000 Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $108.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.04. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. 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 has a market capitalization of $60.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

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.