Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Grows Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,377 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 0.7% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,878,000. Beck Bode LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 143,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Aflac by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 3,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.07.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded up $0.50 on Monday, reaching $106.43. 2,080,419 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,974. The stock has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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