Short Interest in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Drops By 6.8%

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,110,000 shares, a drop of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 9,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. 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 purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $111.32 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.