Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Axxcess Wealth Management boosted its Aflac stake by 819.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 20,866 shares valued at about $2.3 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 67.44% of Aflac’s shares.
• Aflac reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, missing estimates, but revenue of $4.24 billion beat expectations; the company also declared a $0.61 quarterly dividend payable June 1.

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 819.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,597 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $2,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Aflac by 1,184.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $141,199,000 after buying an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 132.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,078,000 after buying an additional 699,080 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Aflac by 180.5% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 252,457 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,320,000 after buying an additional 565,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Aflac by 402.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 653,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,035,000 after buying an additional 523,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 31,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.66, for a total transaction of $3,718,056.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,393,045 shares in the company, valued at $6,046,905,674.70. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total value of $268,065.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,186 shares in the company, valued at $720,978.30. This trade represents a 27.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 814,028 shares of company stock worth $91,815,931 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.82.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $117.78 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $119.81. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $112.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac's product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.

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