AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Acquires 1,941 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 222,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $24,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $631,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 78.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after buying an additional 12,335 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 155,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,308,000 after acquiring an additional 12,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $108.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $110.33 and a 200-day moving average of $98.56.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company 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%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.