Aprio Wealth Management LLC Acquires 175 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in Aflac by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 1,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,000. Bath Savings Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 32,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.43.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $111.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $63.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $106.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.01. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.