Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,986,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 541,777 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $412,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $111.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.68.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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 cut their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets started 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.