Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 57,500 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 295,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,500 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Aflac were worth $33,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $114.00 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.63. 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 $63.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.