Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC Invests $894,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $894,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 670.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,572,000 after buying an additional 484,378 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,539,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,836,717. The stock has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.62 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.