2,000 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Purchased by McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,319,000 after purchasing an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,437,000 after buying an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in Aflac by 3.8% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,382,000 after buying an additional 83,289 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 5.6% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $198,279,000 after buying an additional 117,504 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $114.50 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $109.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.98. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $65.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.53.

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.