Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 6.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Aflac by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Aflac by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,653,000 after buying an additional 22,637 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Aflac by 13.9% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,810,000 after buying an additional 86,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $2,535,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial raised 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. UBS Group upped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.87.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $104.71 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $110.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.80. The company has a market capitalization of $58.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.