Van ECK Associates Corp Has $10.93 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,667 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Aflac were worth $10,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 10,878.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $27,588,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Aflac by 6.3% during 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 buying an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $1.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $107.44. 1,886,942 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,240,914. The stock has a market cap of $60.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $110.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.32. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.93.

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.