Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac 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. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $104.80 on Thursday. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Evercore ISI reduced 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Company 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.