Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $108.25 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.26. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 an increase 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 2.14%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.