Raymond James & Associates Has $94.96 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Raymond James & Associates decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 849,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,330 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.15% of Aflac worth $94,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AFL opened at $114.50 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.98.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 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.