Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,528 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises about 1.9% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 7,001.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 658,303 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Aflac by 10,878.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Aflac by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $27,588,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $111.32 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $110.41 and its 200-day moving average is $99.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 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 stock has a market capitalization of $61.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

About Aflac

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.