Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,197 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $83.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.55. The firm has a market cap of $47.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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 return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Evercore ISI lowered Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.