Erste Asset Management GmbH Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,256,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 10,878.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,597,000 after acquiring an additional 554,803 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after acquiring an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Aflac Trading Down 2.3 %

Aflac stock opened at $111.41 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $111.23 and its 200-day moving average is $101.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $61.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm 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%. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio 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.