O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 460,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,006 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $47,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Barclays decreased their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE AFL opened at $109.71 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $79.31 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.66. 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 firm has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal 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.