Southern Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Southern Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 52.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,455 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up about 0.9% of Southern Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Southern Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $280,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Aflac by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,854,000 after acquiring an additional 15,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.6% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total value of $9,756,192.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,636,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,847,367,651.80. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock valued at $63,514,634. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $116.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Mizuho set a $102.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Aflac to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.82.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.