Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Wintrust Investments LLC

Wintrust Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $948,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Down 1.5 %

Aflac stock opened at $104.67 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.70. The company has a market capitalization of $57.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.