Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Holdings Increased by Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Aflac were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in 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 stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $102.04 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $104.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $56.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS 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, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AFL. Evercore ISI reduced 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. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.86.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by 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.