Focus Partners Wealth Raises Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,306 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Aflac were worth $4,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock traded down $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.66. 282,945 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,104,581. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $86.46 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.49. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,552 shares of company stock valued at $3,702,552. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.