Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Buys 209 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,437,000 after buying an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in Aflac by 3.8% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $104.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $106.12 and a 200-day moving average of $105.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $58.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.67.

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.