Drive Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Drive Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spinnaker Trust boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.7% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 2.5% during the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $112.04 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $110.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.89. The stock has a market cap of $62.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. TD Cowen began coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

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.