Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC Invests $348,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Aflac by 471.4% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,290,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.80. The company had a trading volume of 2,004,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,685,607. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $58.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $106.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.12. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 2.21%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac 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. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted 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, Bank of America increased their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.07.

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.