Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Raises Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Spinnaker Trust boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5 %

AFL opened at $107.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.46.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

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.