Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,996 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 52.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,996 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 35,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,016,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth $373,000. Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 590.0% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 55,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,775,000 after purchasing an additional 47,557 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 125,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $94.82 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.21. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $95.49. The company has a market capitalization of $53.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.46.

Aflac 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.