Tower Bridge Advisors Has $1.82 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Tower Bridge Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Aflac were worth $1,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Spinnaker Trust lifted 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 worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.0% during the third 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 lifted 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 valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $111.32 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $110.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.59. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $61.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96.

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, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

About Aflac

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.