QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 667,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 19,137 shares during the period. Aflac makes up approximately 0.8% of QRG Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Aflac worth $74,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.3% in 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 in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,437,000 after acquiring an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in Aflac by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 5.6% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $198,279,000 after purchasing an additional 117,504 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $104.51. 2,576,634 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,239,345. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $110.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.87.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.