National Pension Service Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,483,726 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,642 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.25% of Aflac worth $122,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 25,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 24.1% during the third quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 675 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.3% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 3.7% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,779 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Raymond James upped their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.31.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AFL traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $84.83. 1,693,174 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,297,630. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company's 50 day moving average is $83.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.99. The company has a market capitalization of $48.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.