Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 152,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Archer Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Key Aflac News
Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Aflac reported adjusted Q3 earnings of $2.43 per share, ahead of the roughly $1.80 analyst consensus. Stronger U.S. profits and lower expenses helped drive the beat; reports also noted a 490-basis-point decline in the U.S. claims ratio. Aflac Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Strong U.S. Profit Growth
- Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, payable Dec. 1, continuing its long record of dividend growth and supporting its appeal to income investors. Aflac declares fourth-quarter dividend
- Neutral Sentiment: Aflac expects Japan pretax margins of 35%–38% and is targeting reinsurance cession of 30% of its FSA reserves. The plan may help manage capital and risk, though its effect on future earnings remains a consideration. Aflac Japan margin and reinsurance plans
- Negative Sentiment: Investors also faced weaker Japan results, currency headwinds and portfolio losses. Aflac’s reported Q3 net profit fell, highlighting the gap between the adjusted earnings beat and bottom-line performance. Aflac Q3 profit falls
Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac
In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,422,016.37. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 713,662 shares of company stock worth $83,323,978. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $101.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $119.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.20.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Aflac
Aflac Price Performance
AFL opened at $123.98 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $105.76 and a fifty-two week high of $131.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.49 and a 200 day moving average of $116.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $62.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.55.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.
Aflac Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.57%.
Aflac Company Profile
Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays.
The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance.
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