Centiva Capital LP Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Centiva Capital LP increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,524 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,800,000 after purchasing an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,535,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $979,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1,273.4% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 10,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 9,805 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $106.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,379,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,214,541. The company has a market capitalization of $59.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.97. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.97. 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 (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

About Aflac

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.