Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 11,254 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,254 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $114.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.23. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $63.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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.