Raymond James & Associates Has $68.04 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 792,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,463 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Aflac were worth $68,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after buying an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 5.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Aflac by 5.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,036,000 after purchasing an additional 227,516 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,254,000 after purchasing an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.31.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,938,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,533,085. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $64.10 and a one year high of $86.26. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.89.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

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.