Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Modera Wealth Management LLC

Modera Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 70,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,340 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 79.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $948,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after purchasing an additional 45,745 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 1.9 %

AFL opened at $109.46 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.60.

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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

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.