PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 213,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.38.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $87.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $88.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.56.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,600 shares of company stock worth $1,379,914 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.