M3 Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• M3 Wealth Management LLC initiated a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter, buying 13,506 shares valued at about $1.49 million. The stake represents roughly 1.2% of its holdings and is its 23rd-largest position.
• Aflac’s latest quarterly results were mixed: it reported $1.75 EPS, missing estimates, while revenue of $4.24 billion slightly beat expectations and rose 27.9% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, payable June 1, for an annualized yield of about 2.1%. Meanwhile, insiders have been selling shares, and Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Hold.

M3 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 13,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,489,000. Aflac makes up approximately 1.2% of M3 Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,526,000 after buying an additional 56,975 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 348.3% during the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,145,000 after acquiring an additional 43,293 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,407,000 after acquiring an additional 163,791 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 11,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $206,712,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of AFL opened at $116.89 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $112.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.62. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 1,740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.57, for a total value of $202,831.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,540,938.83. This represents a 11.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 30,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.61, for a total value of $3,575,344.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,362,645 shares in the company, valued at $6,040,760,678.45. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 844,428 shares of company stock worth $95,391,275 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.27.

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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