Marco Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Marco Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 12,131 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 576.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 8,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 6,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 161.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,723,000 after buying an additional 191,975 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE AFL opened at $112.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The business’s 50-day moving average is $110.73 and its 200 day moving average is $100.55.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Aflac Profile

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.