Great Lakes Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,337 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at $203,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 79.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $104.95 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $105.29 and its 200-day moving average is $107.69. The stock has a market cap of $57.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

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.