Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 347,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,655 shares during the period. Aflac comprises 2.4% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $28,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 36.2% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 210,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,563,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 7.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $85.86 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $63.08 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $81.72 and its 200-day moving average is $80.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $49.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.36.

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.