Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 280,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,416 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $25,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,254,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $197,820,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after buying an additional 113,226 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,577,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,129,000 after buying an additional 64,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in Aflac by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,483,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,407,000 after buying an additional 46,642 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.69.

Aflac Trading Down 1.2 %

Aflac stock opened at $109.07 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $73.62 and a 52-week high of $110.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.40.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

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.