iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 371 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Aflac by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,768,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,239,000 after buying an additional 32,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $108.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $79.31 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.64.

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

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.