Annex Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 263.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,097 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $979,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after purchasing an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $250,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $106.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $106.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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.