Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,005 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth about $203,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $104.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a PEG 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 current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $105.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.70.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its 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%. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were 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 owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616 in the last 90 days. Company 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.