Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 584,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,534 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.11% of Aflac worth $65,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $34,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 1.7 %

AFL opened at $112.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $110.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.24. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

About Aflac

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.