Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 5,765 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,765 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spinnaker Trust grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1.0% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $109.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders 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 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AFL. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. 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. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

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.