Howland Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Howland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after acquiring an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,869,000 after purchasing an additional 136,238 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,153,000 after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Aflac by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after buying an additional 127,911 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.21.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $103.62 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.87. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a positive change 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 yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is 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.