Board of the Pension Protection Fund Invests $1.01 Million in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000. Aflac comprises 1.2% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $1.15 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.80. The stock had a trading volume of 2,004,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,685,607. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $106.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac's revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.94%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.