LPL Financial LLC Sells 18,622 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 944,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,622 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.17% of Aflac worth $97,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $948,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after acquiring an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,287,000 after acquiring an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1 %

AFL opened at $109.56 on Wednesday. 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 $106.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.62. The company has a market capitalization of $59.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $79.31 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.