Savant Capital LLC Has $731,000 Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Raymond James raised their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AFL opened at $83.21 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $86.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.89.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

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.