Erste Asset Management GmbH Purchases New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 20,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,256,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $111.41 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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