Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Denali Advisors LLC

Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 149.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,407 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 156.2% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 28,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 17,666 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Aflac by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 177,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,317,000 after buying an additional 5,242 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $558,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 169.8% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $105.73 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.62 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $58.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.46.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced 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 raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.