Concord Wealth Partners Acquires 1,942 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 26.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the quarter. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Aflac were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.15.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AFL opened at $84.54 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.86. The stock has a market cap of $48.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.81%.

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.