Austin Asset Management Co Inc Buys New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Austin Asset Management Co Inc purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 116.7% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $108.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $60.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.56. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Aflac 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.