1,973 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Bought by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during 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 buying an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Aflac by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Aflac by 3.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 22,637 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,810,000 after acquiring an additional 86,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,535,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.53.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $109.84 and a 200 day moving average of $96.37. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results 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. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

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.