Avestar Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 415 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Aflac by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 31,752 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $198,279,000 after acquiring an additional 117,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $114.10 on Thursday. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $110.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.14. The stock has a market cap of $63.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.