BIP Wealth LLC Buys 9,773 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

BIP Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 367.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,773 shares during the quarter. BIP Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 93,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,856,000 after purchasing an additional 9,907 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Aflac by 3.8% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,662,000 after purchasing an additional 65,308 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,146,000 after buying an additional 13,017 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 222,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,485,000 after buying an additional 28,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,857,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.67.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $1,776,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,837,056. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $108.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $56.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.91. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.Aflac’s revenue was up 59.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.29%.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.