Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. Increases Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $104.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.12. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 2.21%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.94%.

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.