Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Short Interest Update

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,110,000 shares, a drop of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 9,770,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have 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 valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the second 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 period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 0.5% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in 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 worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research 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 research note on Thursday, October 3rd. 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 for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $111.12 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $110.52 and a 200-day moving average of $100.09. The stock has a market cap of $61.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

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 net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.