Eads & Heald Wealth Management Trims Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 35,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,687 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up about 1.4% of Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 16,415,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,794,000 after acquiring an additional 107,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,888,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $765,297,000 after acquiring an additional 105,298 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after acquiring an additional 368,704 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $80.27. 2,437,101 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,245,402. The firm has a market cap of $46.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.42.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI downgraded Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.15.

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.