Concord Wealth Partners Has $789,000 Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 77.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Aflac were worth $789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Aflac by 471.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Aflac by 670.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after buying an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $107.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.38. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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.