Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,045 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,045 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Aflac by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after purchasing an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after buying an additional 368,704 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $84.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,252,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,304,435. 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 $48.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.94. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.31.

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.