Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Acquires Shares of 2,500 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.31.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded up $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $85.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,279,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,704. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.41 and a 200-day moving average of $82.01. The company has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

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.