Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Has $2.76 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 12,131 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $2,535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Aflac by 576.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 8,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 161.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,723,000 after purchasing an additional 191,975 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

AFL opened at $111.32 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.59. The stock 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. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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.