BXM Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 3,472 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

BXM Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $103.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $78.38 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $104.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 24.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.