Next Level Wealth Planning LLC Invests $318,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Next Level Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $948,000. BXM Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in Aflac by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 37,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in Aflac by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 872.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 187,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,446,000 after acquiring an additional 168,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $103.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $104.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.09. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $78.38 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $57.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.