Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 913 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cannell & Spears LLC lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 913 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $12,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $109.71 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

About Aflac

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.