King Luther Capital Management Corp Raises Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spinnaker Trust lifted its holdings in Aflac by 2.7% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 2.5% in the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.39 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price of $110.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.55. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results 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 business 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 firm’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.