Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is Exeter Financial LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Exeter Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,591 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises 2.9% of Exeter Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 1,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,000. Bath Savings Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 32,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.43.

Aflac Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $111.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.01. The company has a market cap of $63.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

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.