Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $58,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after acquiring an additional 495,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $109.46 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.62 and a twelve month high of $115.50. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $104.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 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%. On average, equities 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.