Ballast Inc. Has $478,000 Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ballast Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $115.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $65.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.63.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac 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.