PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 8,613 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 223,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,613 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $24,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.7% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Aflac by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% during 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 period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $112.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.66 and a 200-day moving average of $100.24. The company has a market cap of $62.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 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.