AM Investment Strategies LLC Buys New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

AM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in Aflac by 7,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,597,000 after buying an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of 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 period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth $27,588,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 285,576 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,823,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,237,747. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given 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 1.91%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.87.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.