Independent Advisor Alliance Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 39,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,404,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $730,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 64,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,188,000 after buying an additional 5,858 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 96,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,736,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 12,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,383,000 after buying an additional 4,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 35,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,933,000 after buying an additional 3,819 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised 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, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.39 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.66. The company has a market capitalization of $62.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 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 net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.