RWA Wealth Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 91.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 4,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $898,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,659,000. DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 104,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,838,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.3 %

AFL stock opened at $111.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $60.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.68. 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 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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

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.