&PARTNERS Has $64.56 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

&PARTNERS raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 585,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,918 shares during the quarter. &PARTNERS’s holdings in Aflac were worth $64,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Navalign LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Aflac by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,009,956 shares of company stock valued at $115,897,719 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $117.38 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.81. The stock has a market cap of $59.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

About Aflac

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.