MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Buys 7,472 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 504.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,472 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $926,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $345,000. City Holding Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 53,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,520,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 230 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 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 $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $106.36 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $106.33 and its 200 day moving average is $105.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. 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 dividend yield of 2.18%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.07.

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.