Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,602,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Aflac worth $179,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Citigroup lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $111.32 on Monday. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $110.41 and a 200-day moving average of $99.70. The stock has a market cap of $61.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

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.