Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $34.23 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 306,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,845 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Aflac worth $34,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 178.6% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $64.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $109.63 and a 200-day moving average of $96.18. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

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.