YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Has $4.96 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the 3rd 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 worth $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 405,847 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 0.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,487 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $108.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $60.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $105.88 and its 200 day moving average is $106.04. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.