Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC Takes $348,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 52.3% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 24,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 8,328 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 44,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,610,000 after acquiring an additional 4,147 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Aflac by 670.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $1,014,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE AFL opened at $103.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.55 and its 200 day moving average is $105.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

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.