Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 304 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its stake in Aflac by 520.2% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 36,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 30,359 shares in the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 40,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,370,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,656,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 11,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI cut Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.15.

Aflac Stock Up 0.2 %

AFL stock opened at $80.42 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.47.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.