Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $10.80 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,966 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 6.4% in 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 period. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,437,000 after acquiring an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position 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 valued at $247,682,000 after acquiring an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Aflac by 8.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,869,000 after purchasing an additional 136,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $106.36 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.59. The stock has a market cap of $59.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is 34.94%.

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.