Financial Harvest LLC Makes New $954,000 Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Financial Harvest LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $954,000. Aflac accounts for 0.8% of Financial Harvest LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after acquiring an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after acquiring an additional 118,720 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,869,000 after acquiring an additional 136,238 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,487 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,529,000 after acquiring an additional 127,911 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $104.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.26. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.60 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $57.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

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.