Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Position Increased by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 50,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Aflac by 0.5% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 3,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 32,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6 %

AFL stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.