Tidal Investments LLC Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,918 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $7,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Aflac by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $429,319,000 after purchasing an additional 285,576 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,437,000 after buying an additional 31,752 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Aflac by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $198,279,000 after acquiring an additional 117,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $104.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,069,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,202,533. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $58.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.62. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm's revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. 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 yield of 2.22%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.73.

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.