Howland Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Howland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

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

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.21.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Aflac stock opened at $103.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.87. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

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.