Dakota Wealth Management Raises Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dakota Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 worth $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 495,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Aflac by 670.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 26.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

Insider Activity 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $104.27 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $57.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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.