Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Raises Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 43.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 7,001.0% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $27,588,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Aflac by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Aflac stock opened at $112.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.48. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.53.

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.