Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Boosts Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Aflac were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Aflac by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,206,000 after buying an additional 29,602 shares during the period. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $258,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Aflac by 420.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 7,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 5,870 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $109.46 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.52.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 24.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.