NovaPoint Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

NovaPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for about 1.6% of NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.33 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.69 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.74.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.71.

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.