Beck Bode LLC Acquires 15,505 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Beck Bode LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,505 shares during the period. Aflac makes up 2.9% of Beck Bode LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Beck Bode LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $15,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 83,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,622,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 2,893 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 890,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,156,000 after buying an additional 8,629 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,914,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $42,409,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $105.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $107.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.88. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $83.27 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business's revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

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.

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