State Street Corp Sells 279,628 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

State Street Corp trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,537,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 279,628 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 4.60% of Aflac worth $2,855,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Aflac by 3.5% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 152,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $17,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Aflac by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 333,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,336,000 after purchasing an additional 12,026 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 16,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,779,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 17,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.1% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 22,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:AFL traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $107.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,913,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,211,922. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.01. 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 announced 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 analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.73.

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.