YANKCOM Partnership Acquires Shares of 1,826 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Truist Financial upped 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $103.08 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $77.01 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.74. The company has a market capitalization of $57.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders 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 represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

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.