Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 4,147 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,147 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $105.90 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $106.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.12. The firm has a market cap of $58.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

Insider Activity 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 value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.