Swedbank AB Sells 1,970 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Swedbank AB decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 313,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,970 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $35,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $113.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $62.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $110.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.85.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Aflac Company 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.