Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Bought by Invesco LLC

Invesco LLC grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Aflac makes up approximately 1.1% of Invesco LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AFL. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $1.13 on Wednesday, reaching $108.41. 77,076 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,576,794. The business’s 50-day moving average is $105.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.25. 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 fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Aflac 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.