378,263 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Acquired by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 378,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,290,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Spinnaker Trust boosted its stake in Aflac by 2.7% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 2.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays started 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4 %

AFL stock opened at $107.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.01. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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.