Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 66,937 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Aflac worth $31,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1 %

AFL opened at $109.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.62. 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 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%. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

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 value of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.