Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 14.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 342,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 57,274 shares during the period. Conning Inc. owned about 0.06% of Aflac worth $38,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 167,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,356,000 after buying an additional 24,284 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Aflac by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.71. 2,823,181 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,010,886. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $110.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.93. The stock has a market cap of $58.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm posted $1.84 EPS. Aflac's revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.87.

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.