Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 492 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $259,000. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 41,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,174 shares in the last quarter. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $645,000. Williamson Legacy Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.56 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.22 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.79 and its 200-day moving average is $107.67.

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

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.