M&T Bank Corp Sells 1,919 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 102,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,919 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in Aflac by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,539,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in Aflac by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $102.69 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 34.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Three 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

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.