Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Makes New $5.56 Million Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 53,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,563,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised 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 buying an additional 29,602 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $681,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $998,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 7.8% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $2,041,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,450,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,808,754. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.02. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $78.38 and a 52-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. The company has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac's payout ratio is presently 20.83%.

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.