Brown Advisory Inc. Grows Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Eudaimonia Partners LLC grew its position in Aflac by 234.6% during the fourth quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,325 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,558,000. abrdn plc lifted its position in Aflac by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 298,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,604,000 after buying an additional 100,937 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 353.3% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 11,499 shares during the period. Finally, G&S Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 31,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,626,000 after acquiring an additional 12,551 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,978 shares of company stock valued at $3,098,128. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.38.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $86.78 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $88.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.51 and a 200-day moving average of $82.62. The company has a market capitalization of $49.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 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.