Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Has $1.22 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $681,000. LongView Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 19,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 42,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,762,000 after purchasing an additional 9,123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.53.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE AFL traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.26. 1,478,490 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,249,163. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $107.90 and its 200-day moving average is $94.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

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.