Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $163,409,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 81.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after acquiring an additional 495,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 670.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $107.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.69. The stock has a market cap of $58.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $79.31 and a 1-year high of $115.50. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 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.