Enterprise Financial Services Corp Buys 368 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Aflac by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after acquiring an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,768,000 after acquiring an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in Aflac by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after acquiring an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,239,000 after buying an additional 32,220 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $108.48 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $105.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.