Aprio Wealth Management LLC Acquires 397 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 397 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 10,878.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after acquiring an additional 554,803 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Aflac by 26.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

AFL stock opened at $102.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.02. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 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 the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company 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. 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 2.26%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 34.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.29.

Aflac 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.