Nwam LLC Makes New $221,000 Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nwam LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $3,495,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,218,000 after purchasing an additional 12,768 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,716,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 963,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,688,000 after buying an additional 60,762 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Aflac by 24.6% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AFL. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $113.20 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $62.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.80 and its 200-day moving average is $100.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 1.77%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

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.