West Wealth Group LLC Takes $220,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Aflac by 26.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after buying an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $104.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.04. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

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.