Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Purchases New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,026 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $934,000. Aflac accounts for about 0.9% of Northstar Financial Companies Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.93.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7%

AFL stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.49. 3,415,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,112,682. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $86.46 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.15. The company has a market capitalization of $55.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

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). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for 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%. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. 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.