Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Holdings Reduced by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 305,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,646 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of Aflac worth $34,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 7,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 658,303 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Aflac by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,243,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,029,000 after buying an additional 268,694 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $114.02 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $63.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.43.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid 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 1.75%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio 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.