1,816 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Bought by Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC

Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 4.4% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 23,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB bought a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $2,516,000. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,180,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Aflac by 11.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 72,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,072,000 after purchasing an additional 7,341 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $109.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $62.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.59. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

Aflac Company Profile

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.