Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 169.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,603 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position 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 worth $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 worth $57,572,000 after buying an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,290,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in 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 buying an additional 281,148 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 recently commented on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $109.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $78.62 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.52.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

Aflac Company 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.