Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Purchases 495,000 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 600,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.11% of Aflac worth $67,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 882,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,808,000 after purchasing an additional 12,357 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 46,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 5,317 shares during the period. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $114.01 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $63.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $110.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.05.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.93.

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.

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