McIlrath & Eck LLC Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 483.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,029 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,552 shares of company stock valued at $3,702,552. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten 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 $104.57.

Aflac Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $105.52 on Wednesday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $107.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.48. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $86.46 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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