Geode Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,176,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 178,855 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.19% of Aflac worth $1,356,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at $590,000. Executive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $394,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 7.6% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Trading Up 0.0 %

AFL traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $104.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,803,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,209,256. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $110.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.59. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $57.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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.