Whipplewood Advisors LLC Takes $26,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 79.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $948,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $104.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.56. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $78.62 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

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.