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

Huntington National Bank grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying 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 SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.14. The company has a market capitalization of $61.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Aflac’s 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.