PKS Advisory Services LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

PKS Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,768,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in Aflac by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $109.56 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.31 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $106.21 and a 200 day moving average of $107.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

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.