Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Buys New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Aflac by 9.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 8,861.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,113,000 after purchasing an additional 444,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after buying an additional 368,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.31.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $84.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,252,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,304,435. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $48.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.33 and a 200 day moving average of $81.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 22.08%.

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.