Crews Bank & Trust Purchases New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America lifted 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. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $108.41 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $105.73 and its 200 day moving average is $106.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $60.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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

Aflac Company 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.