Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 28,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,938,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,869,000 after buying an additional 136,238 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after buying an additional 10,487 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,529,000 after acquiring an additional 127,911 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $104.31 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $78.60 and a 12-month 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 capitalization of $57.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company 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.