Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,131 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.9% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 35,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,006,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE AFL opened at $110.44 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm 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 posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

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.