2,500 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Bought by Courier Capital LLC

Courier Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $1,558,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,676,000 after buying an additional 348,400 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 48,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,741,000 after buying an additional 5,477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $803,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.36.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE AFL opened at $85.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.74. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $62.95 and a 12 month high of $86.20. The company has a market capitalization of $49.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.