Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 17,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $878,000. Glenview Trust co grew its stake in Aflac by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 18,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its stake in Aflac by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 4,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AFL opened at $108.49 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.31 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $105.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.