KBC Group NV Cuts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

KBC Group NV reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,706 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Aflac were worth $20,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:AFL traded up $1.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $111.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,895,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,230,304. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.41 and a 200-day moving average of $99.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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.