Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,989 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,556 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Aflac worth $35,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,800,000 after purchasing an additional 5,912 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 576.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 8,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 161.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,723,000 after acquiring an additional 191,975 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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 upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $111.32. The company had a trading volume of 2,895,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,087,796. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two 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 0.08. The company's fifty day moving average is $110.41 and its 200 day moving average is $99.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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.