Commerce Bank Purchases 2,112 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 142,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.38.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction 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 $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $87.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,311,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,043,957. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $88.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $49.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 2.28%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

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.