Adero Partners LLC Has $624,000 Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial increased 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $107.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $59.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.74. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.69 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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.