Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Position Boosted by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 415 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $114.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 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.