Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 121.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,673 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Aflac were worth $693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.
AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.07.
View Our Latest Report on AFL
In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.
Shares of AFL traded up $0.50 on Friday, reaching $106.43. The stock had a trading volume of 2,080,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,974. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.41 and a 200 day moving average of $105.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.18%. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac's payout ratio is presently 30.12%.
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.
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