Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Holdings Boosted by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AFL. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3 %

Aflac stock opened at $104.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its 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 analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current 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 represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.94%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.