Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Trust Point Inc.

Trust Point Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Optas LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 4,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel increased its stake in Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the period. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Aflac by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL stock opened at $107.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $59.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.69 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $105.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’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 sale, 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 accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.