Tidal Investments LLC Has $7.22 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,918 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Aflac by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 158,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,712,000 after purchasing an additional 8,274 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $594,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.4% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,279,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 29.3% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA raised its position in shares of Aflac by 13.1% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 54,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,045,000 after buying an additional 6,282 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $104.41 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 firm has a market cap of $58.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.36 and a 200-day moving average of $102.62. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.73.

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.