Zacks Investment Management Takes $2.10 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 18,815 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,104,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $225,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Aflac by 22.2% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 345,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,660,000 after purchasing an additional 62,929 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 150.2% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 8,552 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 238.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 70,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,220,000 after purchasing an additional 49,829 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $246,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE AFL traded down $0.77 on Tuesday, hitting $104.23. 1,827,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,210,961. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.47. The company has a market cap of $57.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.97. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.73.

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.