Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $108.10 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.63. The firm has a market cap of $59.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $79.31 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.