Synovus Financial Corp Has $133.59 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,194,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 113,696 shares during the period. Aflac comprises about 1.5% of Synovus Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Synovus Financial Corp owned about 0.22% of Aflac worth $133,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 1,474 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 9,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $222,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $104.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $110.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.62. The company has a market cap of $58.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 34.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.73.

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.