Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,437,000 after acquiring an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in Aflac by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 5.6% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $198,279,000 after purchasing an additional 117,504 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL opened at $106.43 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.13.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

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.