Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,878,000. Beck Bode LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 143,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,803,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Aflac by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,566,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 344.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $106.36 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.59.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. 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 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

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.