UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 281,148 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.85% of Aflac worth $524,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Aflac by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,588,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Aflac by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 30,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 14,098 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 0.1 %

AFL stock opened at $114.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $111.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.23. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.