Financial Harvest LLC Purchases New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Financial Harvest LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $954,000. Aflac makes up 0.8% of Financial Harvest LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AFL. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.86.

Aflac Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $57.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $78.60 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.83%.

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.