Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,483,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,642 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Aflac were worth $122,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 25,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,065,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.7% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

AFL stock traded up $0.15 on Wednesday, hitting $84.83. 1,693,174 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,297,630. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $86.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.31.

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.