Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 28,407 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 28,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,938,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 9,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Financial Harvest LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $954,000. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 13,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 3,274 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,665,000 after buying an additional 2,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $104.31 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.60 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.16 and its 200-day moving average is $107.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.86.

Aflac 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.