Short Interest in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Decreases By 9.7%

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 11,600,000 shares, a decrease of 9.7% from the September 15th total of 12,840,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three 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, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.53.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $114.38 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $64.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.49. Aflac has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Aflac by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake 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 buying an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,653,000 after buying an additional 22,637 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.9% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,810,000 after buying an additional 86,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $2,535,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.