Dearborn Partners LLC Has $618,000 Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 18,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Aflac by 33.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 506,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,394,000 after buying an additional 128,074 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $313,000. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,360,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE AFL opened at $111.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.36 and a 200-day moving average of $99.29.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.