Tidal Investments LLC Acquires 7,918 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,918 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 9,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $222,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $104.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $58.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.97. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $110.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The business 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 business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 34.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AFL. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.73.

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.