Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 12,131 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 79.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $3,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $109.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,637,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,227,292. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $110.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.22. The company has a market capitalization of $60.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96. 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 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Aflac's payout ratio is 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.