Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is Vest Financial LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 826,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,973 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for approximately 1.5% of Vest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.15% of Aflac worth $85,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective 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 downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.21.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL stock opened at $103.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.72. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $77.01 and a 12 month high of $115.50. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were 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 $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.