Howard Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade 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 link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $104.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $78.62 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $104.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.43. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler lowered 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, February 7th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.86.

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.