Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Trust Point Inc.

Trust Point Inc. increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Aflac by 471.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Aflac by 670.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.69 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 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 issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.71.

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.