Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 376 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Aflac by 9.5% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 213.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 37,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,349 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Aflac by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 261,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,536,000 after buying an additional 16,675 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $8,328,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in Aflac by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 8,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $111.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $61.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company 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 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Three equities research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Aflac Company 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.