Quantinno Capital Management LP Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 152,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spinnaker Trust increased its stake in Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $106.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $59.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $111.16 and its 200 day moving average is $101.97. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 34.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.73.

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.