Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $124,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $124,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Aflac by 15.5% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after buying an additional 4,654 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 7.3% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 300,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,610,000 after buying an additional 20,402 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. boosted its position in Aflac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 157,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AFL opened at $108.47 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.67. The company has a market capitalization of $59.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $79.31 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

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.