Mather Group LLC. Has $14.17 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mather Group LLC. cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,271 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $14,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 93,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,717,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $180,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. PGGM Investments grew its position in Aflac by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 194,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,006,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co increased its holdings in Aflac by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 21,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Evercore ISI cut Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, 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 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1 %

Aflac stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Monday, hitting $84.55. 286,157 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,248,016. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.69 and its 200 day moving average is $81.78. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $86.26. The company has a market capitalization of $48.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.