Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,375 shares during the quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $979,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $250,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value 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 $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $106.43 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $106.45 and a 200 day moving average of $105.13. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

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.