HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Purchases Shares of 17,817 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,511,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eudaimonia Partners LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 234.6% during the 4th quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 7,325 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,558,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 633,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,262,000 after buying an additional 44,875 shares during the period. abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 298,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,604,000 after acquiring an additional 100,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after acquiring an additional 15,855 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.2 %

AFL stock opened at $89.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $85.66 and a 200 day moving average of $83.44. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $66.58 and a twelve month high of $89.91. The firm has a market cap of $50.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.