Davis R M Inc. Trims Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Davis R M Inc. decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 371 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Aflac by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,437,000 after acquiring an additional 31,752 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,279,000 after acquiring an additional 117,504 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $113.20 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.