Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 420 shares during the quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $948,000. Willis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $345,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.57.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $106.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $57.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $86.46 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,552 shares of company stock valued at $3,702,552 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.