New Century Financial Group LLC Makes New $366,000 Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 14,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 75,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after buying an additional 12,450 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 386,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,889,000 after acquiring an additional 8,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 93.6% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.36.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $112.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $74.89 and a fifty-two week high of $112.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.38.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. Aflac’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.