2,921 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Purchased by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,653,000 after buying an additional 22,637 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.9% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,810,000 after buying an additional 86,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,535,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Aflac stock opened at $112.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.