International Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires 6,535 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 182.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,535 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,630,000. Atlas Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $1,802,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $2,546,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 137.4% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 40,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 23,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 135.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 142,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,599,000 after buying an additional 81,803 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.20.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $125.29 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $62.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.55. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $105.76 and a 1-year high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.63. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Key Stories Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac reported adjusted EPS of $2.43, above analysts’ consensus of about $1.80. That beat is the clearest favorable signal in the earnings reports. Aflac Q3 earnings report
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a fourth-quarter dividend, providing a shareholder-return update; the announcement provided here does not specify the dividend amount. Aflac third-quarter results and dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was $3.27 billion, missing the approximately $4.12 billion estimate and declining 31% year over year. This substantial top-line shortfall tempers the earnings beat. Aflac Q3 revenue report
• Negative Sentiment: Aflac also reported net earnings of $303 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, amid portfolio repositioning. The gap between this reported result and adjusted EPS is important for investors assessing underlying performance. Aflac earnings and portfolio repositioning

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,422,016.37. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 713,662 shares of company stock worth $83,323,978. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.