Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 58.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 269 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $75,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spinnaker Trust boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake 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 period. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $78.38 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

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.