Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 124 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 202,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,634,000 after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 7.8% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 79.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 12,131 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

AFL stock opened at $111.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $61.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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.