Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 149 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Aflac were worth $74,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $109.71 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.49 and its 200 day moving average is $107.66. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. 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 posted 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

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.