Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 156.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,666 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Aflac by 3.1% in the fourth 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 period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $558,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 169.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,603 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,577,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 2.6 %

AFL stock opened at $106.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $78.62 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $104.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.47.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business 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 an increase 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 2.17%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was 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 represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac Company 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.