Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 759 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Austin Asset Management Co Inc acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $234,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Aflac by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,153,000 after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $110.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $61.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.33 and a 200-day moving average of $98.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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 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.