Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 350,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,092 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for approximately 1.3% of Conning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Conning Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Aflac worth $36,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 41,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 4,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 59,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,187,000 after buying an additional 4,658 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 2,210.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 158,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 151,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.21.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $103.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $104.87 and its 200-day moving average is $106.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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 net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% 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.