Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54,739 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $14,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 301,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,881,000 after buying an additional 2,712 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $832,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Aflac by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,653,000 after purchasing an additional 22,637 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,810,000 after buying an additional 86,578 shares during the period. Finally, Zega Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the first quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 68,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,841,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $110.63. 54,981 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,223,600. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.36 and its 200-day moving average is $99.14. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $61.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Company 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.