Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 400 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,558,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,676,000 after purchasing an additional 348,400 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 31,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 12,551 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 376,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,786,000 after purchasing an additional 26,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 48,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 5,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of AFL opened at $83.23 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The company has a market cap of $47.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Evercore ISI downgraded Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.15.

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.