457 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Bought by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 116.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 178.6% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE AFL opened at $108.56 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $60.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.