Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 14,483 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Prospera Financial Services Inc decreased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 71,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,483 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 16.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at $432,201,000. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of Aflac by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,187,000 after acquiring an additional 385,546 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Aflac by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,662,000 after acquiring an additional 65,308 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $1,776,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares in the company, valued at $25,837,056. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,824,298.75. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,044 shares of company stock valued at $3,241,981. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $115.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.90. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. The company has a market capitalization of $60.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.