Bailard Inc. Sells 664 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bailard Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 664 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 471.4% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $83.95. 998,768 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,267,124. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The company has a market capitalization of $48.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. 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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.15.

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.