Huntington National Bank Buys 2,418 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in Aflac by 2.7% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised 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 valued at $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.14.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently 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.