Shelton Capital Management Boosts Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Shelton Capital Management raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 126.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 125,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,001 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $12,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 139,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Aflac by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 242,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,217,000 after acquiring an additional 24,173 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,213,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,519,000 after buying an additional 11,345 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 66,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,917,000 after acquiring an additional 12,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $99.93 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $79.31 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $106.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $54.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.29.

About Aflac

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.