Roxbury Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Aflac by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 29,602 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Aflac by 3.1% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 50,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1.0% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Aflac by 12.1% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 13,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Aflac by 2.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $103.87. 637,031 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,765,165. The firm's fifty day moving average is $104.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.30. The company has a market capitalization of $57.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $78.38 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Aflac's payout ratio is 20.83%.

Aflac 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.