Friedenthal Financial Takes $776,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised 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 worth $8,800,000 after purchasing an additional 5,912 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22,637 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $60,810,000 after buying an additional 86,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,535,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.53.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4 %

AFL stock opened at $114.50 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $65.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 1.75%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company 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.