Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 23.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 206,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,815 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $23,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $221,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.2% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 102,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,479,000 after acquiring an additional 4,139 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 29,602 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 19,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $115.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,717,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,255,626. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.94. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.43.

Aflac Company 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.