Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,871 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after buying an additional 444,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after buying an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $83.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.31.

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.