Physicians Financial Services Inc. Buys 175 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Aflac by 8.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,869,000 after buying an additional 136,238 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after buying an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after buying an additional 127,911 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $104.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $78.60 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $57.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $104.16 and its 200 day moving average is $107.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

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.