Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Takes $216,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Aflac by 14.2% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 11,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth $4,404,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at $730,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 10.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 64,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,188,000 after buying an additional 5,858 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $114.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $63.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $110.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.05. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

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.