Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 95.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spinnaker Trust increased its stake in Aflac by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.68 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.96. 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 fifty day moving average of $110.33 and a 200-day moving average of $98.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.17 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.