Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,440 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $24,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $113.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,663,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,221,631. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. 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.