Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,179,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 56,286 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Aflac worth $355,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $2,535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 576.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 8,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 6,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Aflac by 161.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,723,000 after acquiring an additional 191,975 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

Aflac stock opened at $112.39 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.96. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

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.