Tradewinds LLC. Purchases New Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Tradewinds LLC. acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 4,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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 report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $111.25 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $79.31 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $106.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company 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.