500 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Acquired by MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Aflac by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,036,000 after acquiring an additional 227,516 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,236,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,659,000 after purchasing an additional 49,479 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $85.09. 532,943 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,283,045. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $83.24 and its 200-day moving average is $81.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Piper Sandler increased 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.31.

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.