Assetmark Inc. Acquires 32,220 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,220 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $167,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $107.56 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.22 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.79 and a 200 day moving average of $107.67. 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 company has a market capitalization of $58.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.