Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Has $2.94 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,038 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.43.

Aflac Stock Down 3.0 %

AFL opened at $111.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $63.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.01. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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.