Bill Few Associates Inc. Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bill Few Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.53.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $113.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $64.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.36.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.