Nilsine Partners LLC Purchases 357 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $107.39 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.15. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 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.