Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $106.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $106.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.59. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 34.94%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% 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.