Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC

Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 1.4% of Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. 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 valued at $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 79.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $979,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after acquiring an additional 45,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $250,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $108.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.28. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio 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.