Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Raises Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Aflac were worth $284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $103.16 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $107.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.27. The company has a market capitalization of $57.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.94%.

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.