Adero Partners LLC Has $624,000 Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Adero Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac 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 transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL opened at $107.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.69 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $105.23 and its 200-day moving average is $106.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.71.

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.