Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Boosts Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 587 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 6.4% in 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 valued at $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings 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 worth $185,869,000 after purchasing an additional 136,238 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the 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 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 trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $102.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.35.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. 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 2.27%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. 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, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.86.

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.