Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,509 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,765 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $4,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,588,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $111.32. 2,890,166 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,230,304. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.29. The firm has a market cap of $61.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.93.

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.